RHAP: We Know Survivor - Tina Wesson Talks Survivor 50 Ep 4

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

Tina Wesson Talks Survivor 50 Ep 4 Survivor 50 is here, and Rob Cesternino is back with Survivor legend and Australian Outback winner, Tina Wesson, for an in-depth recap and analysis. As Survivor hits this massive milestone, Rob and Tina break down the latest strategy shifts, evolving player dynamics, and a memorable celebrity cameo—asking what it all means for the direction of the season. This episode dives into the shifting sands of Survivor 50, starting with Colby’s quiet but potentially dangerous gameplay. Tina and Rob dissect the significance of Colby’s subtle presence, how older-school social strategies stack up against fast-paced modern moves, and why sometimes being unseen is the best shield at Tribal Council. The conversation also spotlights Christian’s emotional and strategic journey, including his pivotal move to blindside Mike White, and the tricky balance of loyalty, vulnerability, and big risks as alliances form and fracture. Plus, the episode covers the camp’s reaction to Zac Brown showing up for a surprise fishing-and-cooking reward, raising the question of whether celebrity interventions add value or distract from Survivor’s core drama. – Tina’s surprising love for Christian and why his vulnerability stands out – Colby’s under-the-radar strategy: threat or safe bet? – Mike White’s return, his risky social “sales pitch,” and the consequences – The Colby-Coach bromance and how old-school bonds shape new-school gameplay – Tina’s take on the big Zac Brown reward—and why not every reward is a feast for every player – The tension between loyalty, revenge, and “letting the sharks eat the sharks” in modern alliances With iconic winners, new twists like the boomerang idol, and unexpected celebrity guests, Survivor 50 leaves everyone guessing: Will classic social game players hold up, or will bold new moves take over? Is keeping a low profile still a winning formula as the merge draws closer? Chapters: 0:00 Intros 06:03 Colby’s Survivor 50 Role Discussed 11:09 Colby’s Reluctance and Redemption 14:33 Old School Loyalty Versus Scheming 24:16 Christian’s Move Against Mike White 36:12 Comparing Mike White and Cirie 38:47 Survivor Bromances: Colby and Coach 46:09 Jonathan’s Quiet Game Style 47:41 Past Rivalries Impact Present Votes 59:00 Colby Bonds with Rizgod 1:01:09 Tina’s Thoughts on Redemption Island 1:05:03 Colby’s Growth Over the Years 1:13:12 Tina Would Consider The Traitors 1:26:00 Concerns About Celebrity Cameos 1:34:31 Survivor 50’s Shortened Days Debated To pre-order Rob’s book, The Tribe and I Have Spoken, visit www.robhasabook.com Never miss a minute of RHAP’s extensive Survivor coverage! LISTEN: Subscribe to the Survivor podcast feed WATCH:  Watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube SUPPORT:  Become a RHAP Patron for bonus content, access to Facebook and Discord groups plus more great perks!

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Amazing. Have it all with Bulu on Disney Plus. Hey, everybody. What's going on? Rob Cesterino. And we have such a delightful guest here for you to talk today. Look, she's dancing. She's bopping.

This is how she is all the time. And we go way back from when we spent so many weeks together in the early days of Survivor All-Stars. Please welcome back. The great winner, Survivor Legend, winner of Survivor, the Australian Outback. Tina Wesson is here. Tina, how are you?

Hey, Rob. I'm so good. Yes. Well, listen, everybody's going to be so excited to hear from you and so excited to see how pumped up you are to talk about Survivor 50. Can you believe it? Is it so good?

Yeah. I am loving it. Yeah. Well, can you believe that we're even here in Survivor 50? Yeah. hair instead of there. Well, I mean, just like that we made it. You were on Survivor, too.

I know. I know. I wish I was on Survivor 50. Way, way. Yeah. But that's, well, I say that. But then I realized, oh, my gosh, they would have eaten my lunch. So it's probably good.

I'm not. You know what, Tina, you say that. And of course, in Survivor All-Stars, where it all comes full circle, where Jenna Lewis is like, hey, we got to get out the winners. We're going for the winners. I almost feel like that the players from way back when, I kind of feel like that you are a hard player, but I don't think that you're a super, like, fast, aggressive player.

And I feel like that people seem pretty comfortable with the people that it's like, okay, I know they're going to play hard, but I know they're not up to a million different schemes. And I kind of want to keep those people around versus the people who are really the hardcore people like coming up with a million ideas. Exactly. So I feel like I've got a really good social game. And so... One of the best. Thank you. Legendary. Thank you. Thank you. So it's great. Like let the sharks eat the sharks, you know, because there are a lot of people who come out of the gate playing hard.

And those are the ones that in the end, I kind of think they're the deserving, more deserving of the people to win. Because they have played a hard game. But if you can let you. them eat themselves in the beginning. There's so many different little nuances, as you know, to the game. Like, you know, the strong guys, they pretty much have a shoe in in the early stages. And then once the merge happens, then they're the threat. The weak players, if they're weak in the beginning, they want to get them off first. But in the end, you want to keep the weak players because nobody will vote for them.

So there's all these different nuances. So if you can just squeeze the end right there in the middle, don't bother anybody, be happy, you know, then I think you're doing pretty good in the beginning. And you're a runner. You know it's a marathon, and you don't want to necessarily come out of the gate so hot and sort of save some of your moves for the end.

Right, exactly. Okay. Well, Tina, we're going to talk about everything from Survivor 50, but give the listeners an update. How are you doing? What are you up to? Okay, I'm doing wonderful. I'm down here in Florida where I come in the wintertime to escape the North Carolina freezing cold weather. Play tennis and pickleball and have the best time in sunny Florida.

Yeah. I retired this year. Woo, woo. Rob, I've worked since I was 13 years old. Yeah. What's 65 minus 13? 52. Okay. That's my whole life. You know how good it feels to be retired? I love it. And then I'm going to New Zealand next month for a whole month. What's in New Zealand? I have vacation.

I have some friends who have family there and they invited me to go with them. I'm like, yeah, I'm in. What are you going to see in New Zealand? Everything. We're doing all around the North Island, all around the South Island. We're doing things that you'd love. You know, we're paling down in caves, zip lining, you know, anything adventurous, that's what we're doing.

Yeah. I might be a little bit more open to doing some of those things than I was as a younger person, ironically. Oh, good. Okay. Well, I'll bring you up, see if you want to come join us. Yeah, and just, Tina, you have to remember the time that you were spending with me. I wasn't like in the, that wasn't the best version of me that you were getting there. So I feel like I've permanently made like a less than incredible impression on you from

from the time that we spent together? Not at all, not at all, because I'm always looking forward. I never look back. Yeah. You know, and whenever I look back, I look back at this fan of the show, you know? I mean, and what I see now is just this incredibly successful, happy family man who's, you know, parlayed their career into something that was a passion. Bravo, no, I see, I'm, I'm envious.

appreciate that. The me that you were interacting with back then was like the, that the me that felt like I let it slip through my fingers. Like I had, I had something and I, and I screwed it up and I missed it. And now what? So who knew all these other twists and turns that were going to come? But I appreciate you giving me always another chance to redeem myself with you. Always. There's nothing to redeem, Rob. Yeah. Okay. Well, let's talk about some of these people that are. Yes. This is really funny.

So I was doing a podcast with somebody else, and there's so many. What? I can't keep them all straight. But they were talking, they were fanning on you. They were like, rob this, rob that. And I'm like, well, just texting. I'm sure he'd be glad to whatever, whatever. Well, so after the thing was over, they thought that they're,

screen was off and it wasn't. And they said, oh, that's so funny. She thinks that Rob is so accessible like anybody can just text it. So I take it not everybody can just text you out of the blue. Well, I mean, I don't know who it was, which podcast it was. But, you know, it's only so much time in the day, Tina. Okay. All right.

I didn't know that you were like, for you, Tina. I mean, listen, you know, let's say that it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you know, it gets busy sometimes. Well, you've got a lot of fans, apparently. People must really, really love you. Listen, I'm very fortunate to, you know, have people who, they love Survivor and we get to connect around the thing that we all love. Yeah.

Okay. Well, let's talk about what's going on with Survivor 50 and this four episodes in. And, of course, everybody wants to know how do you feel like Colby is? doing and do you see a different Colby then the last time that he played? I don't see Colby at all. I'm like, like, I don't know if you were noticing because I purposely look for him. And like when they're on the mat before a challenge, they'll show his team and he's not on there. When they're on the starting blocks, they show the team, but Colby's out of the picture.

I'm like, where's Colby? You know? You made a big first impression when he came back, right? He did. And he actually had a few cameo spots yesterday. So I'm like, there he is. And his eyes were so blue and his teeth were so white. Always.

He's looking very Kobe Texan. Yeah. Yeah. So I think, you know, he's on a strong tribe. So hopefully, you know, they won't be going to tribal council. So as long as, you know, they don't mix it up again, I think he's got. you know, a few more challenges left in him before the merge. Yeah.

We were talking a little bit about my journey with Survivor and my many phases of how I was feeling, but Colby, too, has been through a journey with the show. Can you speak to that at all from what you've observed from him both on and off the screen? I can, yes. And we talked a lot before he went out on this season. And I actually tried to talk him into plan. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go out. And I'm like, Kobe, you have got to do this.

There's no reason not to do it. And so anyway, yeah, I think that, you know, he's had good vibes. He's had some pretty low points. So I think this is a way just to his final exit. How does he want to be remembered? how does he want to feel internally from all of his experiences, you know, kind of balance out the good with the bad. And so I think that for him, he really just wanted to do this for himself, you know,

and go out with a good impression. If it's not too personal, you tell us what was the thing that was holding him back from saying yes? Well, he's got a very busy business. So, you know, as you know, taking off of work is not always the easiest thing to do. And so that was part of it. But again, you know, I love the game. I just, like I see the challenge. I want to play all the challenges.

That's what I want. I want to go out and play the games, you know. and I don't know. I'm not sure if Kobe feels that same intensity towards recreation as I do. And, you know, there's a lot of things in Survivor that you can't control. And so, you know, what if he went out and didn't do well right off the bat and then you're stuck there for a long amount of time? You know, so I don't know. I think that there were just a lot of things that he had to weigh where some of us, none of that matters.

You know, you just say Survivor and like, yes, teacher, me, me, me. But I'm just, I don't think that he was necessarily at that place. Yeah. I do feel like, though, that with the experience that he had where, you know, he never really went out super early, but I know he didn't have a good experience with it. So I feel like that there was the opportunity, though, to come back and have some redemption. And I feel like that that was probably an exciting part of all of this for him. Absolutely.

And, you know, because people will remember that. I think people are like, what happened to Colby? You know, he played so differently and he seemed so different, you know? And so I do. I think that maybe he needed to redeem maybe how other people saw him as well. Yeah. and do you think that they should have let him bring the Texas flag back because wouldn't that have been full circle?

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, it's as iconic as Boston Rob's hat. Yeah, like instead of a tarp, maybe they could let them win the Texas flag. Because I always remember, I mean, your season is just so burned into my brain from when I was at home watching it. And I just remember quoting Colby and he said, Every morning, I wake up and I thank God for two things. Number one, that I'm alive.

And number two, that I'm a Texan. And that is true. That boy is Texas through and through. Yeah. So, okay, but you feel like that when you don't see him that much, that's a good sign, right? Well, yeah, because that means that they're not going to tribal council. Yeah. You know, to me, you know, most of the cameos or whatever are the people.

the tribe that's in trouble. Yeah. You know, because that's where all the actions happening. So right now, I don't feel like we're getting a whole lot from either of the other two tribes, you know? Yeah.

So it's coming. So when you worked with Colby, what did you work on? Do you talk about strategy? Did you talk about the players that you think he should work with or not? Yeah, we talked about that. We talked.

I don't know if I can tell. you all this. You could try me. I know I just don't know if he would appreciate it. I got to think about that. Yeah, really just headspace. Yeah. You know, work for your head and kind of where it needs to be.

Yeah. In playing the same, you know, like I love, like, I think he even mentioned it this last time about having permission to really go out there and play hard. Yeah. You know, as you know, in our season, it was more about loyalty and, you know, staying true to your alliance and not going out and playing hard. And to heck with alliances, you know, we're going to go out there and just lie and cheat and steal with everybody, you know.

Yeah. And I've never got to play that game. you know, I haven't chosen to play that game because I didn't ever feel like that was me. But now I realize that now that's really having you play. So if I went back, I would be able to have permission to play a game. I've never been able to play. Yeah. It's interesting.

This idea of honor and loyalty has really come back to the surface with Joe playing in Survivor 48. and obviously with coach back, and you saw Colby and Coach and Joe, all three of them, really bond over this idea. Did you feel like in the second season to go way far back where Richard won the first season? Was there any sort of like a push from the people who played that season? We want to show people that there's a different way you could play and win?

In the second time that I played? In season two. in season two? No. I think mostly what we thought was, you know, you watch all season long and somebody wins the game and you're like, I'm maybe not all that thrilled about who won. And so I think that we just really wanted a positive winner, you know, and somebody good to win. want somebody

maybe like I don't know who was who was a Jerry maybe sorry Jerry I love you we love Jerry yes but we didn't want a villain to win you know so I think that that was on everybody's

mind in our season Tina have you seen that there's been a few different interviews with Elizabeth where that they said that they were trying to contact her to play also in Survivor 50, and she told them that she's not doing that. Were you surprised that they're reaching out for Elizabeth to play Survivor 50?

I'm not surprised. Who wouldn't want Elizabeth to play? I'd reach out to ask her, and she did not respond. So I have no inside skinny on that one. She totally diss me. But, yeah, she would be fantastic, wouldn't she? Listen, I think it would be super interesting to see her come back. I don't know what they could entice her with about, you know, Colby has like, okay, I want to change my story.

And I don't think that for her, I don't think she really even thinks about Survivor too much. I don't think so either. And, you know, she's pretty family oriented as well. And so I'm not sure we could ever get her to leave her family. Yeah. You know. So tell me about some of the other people that you know. from with obviously you knew Jenna Lewis

she came back out and then this was kind of full circle in terms of her story where that she got you voted out first and now then she got voted out first I know can you imagine how sad I was about that I'm like ha ha ha

that's what it feels like I hope you like it and it was so on season two I played so hard before I went out to play, you know, because we're at the, we're at the Ponderosa before you. I'm sneaking notes to Rupert, you know. What did the notes say? I might, Rupert. First of all, I loved Rupert before we went out. And I was like, these are the people that you can trust. These are the people that you can't. So, because I didn't think that he knew because I had played with

some of these people before. So I'm letting him know who he could and couldn't trust. And then on the boat, going to the island, he is sick as a dog, sick as a dog, growing up over the boat. And I'm like, I've got a little cold rag on his forehead. You know, I am trying so hard to win his favor. And so we get out there to the island and I know I was in deep doo-doo. You know, I was like, oh, no.

But I thought me and Ethan could get Rupert, you know, that would really help us. But he went with Jenna and them to vote off the winners, which I don't believe in. Yeah. Tina, look at you. This is, that's scandalous that you're passing notes in the preseason. I mean, there was just a whole controversy in the last season of new players of people talking beforehand and passing notes. And look at you. You're a game changer. I'm a sneaky, sneaky person.

Yeah. I make eye contact with Elizabeth at our Ponderosa. Yes. With her. I did something with her at Ponderosa before we went out. Oh, I just thought she was so adorable. I can't remember if I slipped her a note. How many notes do you have?

I'm a little no person, you know? Girls got to do what a girl's got to do. Because I think that what people don't know is that, for some reason they put everybody with your tribe. You spent like a week with your, I don't know what they were thinking of like, okay, you flew two Survivor All-Stars with all the people that were on your tribe.

So like Rob and Amber, it wasn't like love at first sight. Like they had been like canoodling for like six days at the house that we were all at waiting to start to play the game with nothing to do. Well, now I will say on all of my seasons, they, well, let me say, well, the first two seasons,

I'm just trying to remember. Like, definitely the first season, we were in our rooms. Yeah. We did not have contact. None. Second season, we saw each other, like when we had meals, there was an open meal area. Like the first season, they would bring our meals to the room. We weren't allowed outside.

But second season, we had a common area. That's how I was able to sneak in. note to Rupert. And then third season, same thing. We had a common area. And we were sleeping in a common area. Yeah. They were just figuring it out when you played on the second season. They didn't even know what they were doing then. I know. Yeah. Let me bring it back to Survivor 50. Tell me, who are some of your faves that are on this season besides Colby? Okay. I have fallen madly in love and in willing to have his baby. baby. Can you guess who?

No. Let me try to think. Hmm. Let's see. Christian. Love that man. He just had a baby. I know, but I want it.

I want how much his baby. Absolutely. You find that strange, don't you? I just wasn't, I've never heard you talk like this before. This is surprising me. He, Rob, his vulnerability. Yeah. I have, I just love how, you know, like last night he had that moment

talking about his kind of heartbreak of his other season, whenever, whoever it was. Gabby. Gabby. And how he had that emotional moment. And he goes, oh my gosh, I haven't cried about this ever, you know, not even being home. And that's one thing I love about Survivor is, good Lord, there are so many things that we have to process before, during, and after Survivor.

And lots of times these things don't come up until much later. And I love that he just had this really sensitive, vulnerable moment. And I, last night, I thought he was a genius, absolute genius. I mean, I thought for a moment, you know, he's falling for Mike White little web that he was weaving. And I think he did at first. And then he had like that aha moment and turned it into this beautiful blindside. You know, I'm like, I love him. I love Christian.

He is my new. He's my new like, go Christian. He's down in Florida too. You two should meet. I mean, just meet up for coffee. That's all I'm saying. I texted him last night. Yes.

Yeah, I didn't sexting. Is that one? Sex texting. And he's easy to reach on text? I don't have his text. Oh, okay. Messenger, I think. Okay.

And he hasn't messaged me back either. Not yet. Not yet. Okay. He's like 398 miles from me, but I could go with somebody on my way back home to North Carolina. He didn't want to meet up with me and let me help this baby and I promise I won't steal it. Okay. What part of North Carolina are you in these days?

Far west. One mile to the Tennessee border. I'm by the Smoky Mountains. Yes. Okay. You know, let me say, I'm going to stay on Christian. And so Christian ended up deciding to go against Mike White. did you think that that was the right move for Christian to make to turn on Mike, who he had

passed history with, to keep Emily in the game? Yes. Now, I don't know if it's smart to keep Emily in the game, but I think it was very smart to get Mike White out first. You know, I think that Mike's, he is dangerous. He is a dangerous man. And so, yeah, I thought it was great, great, great strategy to get him out. Emily?

Now, I think what, because you don't see it, that would be one of my questions to a Christian that I'd like to ask, is in this conversation that he has with Emily, trying to explain the situation to her. If I were him, I would have said, now, Emily, the reason why we don't need you going to Mike is this, you know, in explaining it to her. Because, you know, her first thought was, well, I really need to go tell Mike, he needed to do a better job. to explain to Emily why she didn't need to do it. Because that really, really was kind of a risky proof. Did you ever play with anybody who kind of had loose lips who was going to give things away? Monica. Oh.

But it wasn't that she was giving things away as much as it was. She had a, her voice is a very loud voice. and before I knew that she was in this alliance against me, I thought she was in an alliance with me. And whenever we would talk, she would talk in a loud voice. And I would be like, Monica, they can hear you. You know, keep it down. I told her like 10 times.

And I was getting really annoyed to the point that I said, Monica, don't talk to me anymore. And it hurt her feelings. And, you know, we had some issues on our season. And she got her feelings hurt. and, you know, I think I probably went about it the wrong way, but I thought that she was jeopardizing my game. Yeah.

And so little did I know. She wasn't jeopardizing it because she was already in this other alliance. But anyway, that was the only not loose lips, but more. And I know you were somebody who was also keen on listening for when other people had loose lips. Correct me if I'm wrong. But when dead. Revealed that Jeff Varner had gotten a vote at the first tribal. It was you that caught that, right?

Yep. So, yeah, you got to listen more than you talk. And I think, too, that's another probably reason why I'm not back on, is because I am so insular whenever I play. Like, I don't want to tell the producers. I don't want to tell them things because I'm not. not sure that they, whenever they're interviewing somebody else, if I give them information, you know, not that they would tell them what I've said, but they may introduce an idea to that person that they might not have had if I share everything that I'm thinking.

So at one point, and I think it was, I don't remember if it was my second time I played or my third, Jeff asked you. It's like, Tina, you know, could you open up a little more? And I'm like, nope, you know, that's not the game I play. Well, now I get it. You know, they're making a television show. I don't know if you know that or not. I heard. Yeah.

And I was there to play the game. I wasn't there to make a television show. And so, you know, that's another reason why I don't feel like that I really made for great television is because I just keep a lot to myself. And I'm not, I'm not a great feeder of information. So that's just who I am. Yeah. And I think you're selling yourself short because I think that going back to what the show was when you were there, they weren't necessarily looking for people who were there to try to be TV stars.

They were looking for people to be real and to be, you know, share their emotions. And I think that you gave so many great TV moments in. survive with the Australian Outback. And that was the reason why people fell in love with you. Oh, thanks, Rob. And I can be that. You know, when it says we take 16 ordinary strangers, that's me. I'm an ordinary stranger.

I'm not a TV personality, you know? And so, and I'm not really, like, you have such quick verbiage. You can just, somebody can ask you a question and you've got 10 great comments about it, you know? I don't think that quick, you know. I'm like, can you give me all? my questions like a day in advance so I can read them and come up with something clever, maybe. Well, I want to go back to what you said about that you thought that maybe if you said something

that maybe they might say it in a certain way that might give something away, did you ever pick up on something that they were asking you that gave you information about what somebody else was doing? Yeah, I did actually. And that's what gave me the idea that, huh, well, you know, It wasn't like inside scoop or anything. It's just like at tribal council. You know, whenever you're at tribal council, we are all reading everything that everybody says, okay, what does that mean?

What, you know, that there's got to be a hidden meaning to what they're saying. You know, that's why I hate it when Jeff calls on me at tribal council because I have to think of a way to put something that's not going to give anything away. You know, and some people, if you're not real savvy to that, they might say one little thing that will give you a clue as to something that's going on, right? Yep. You know, that's such a good skill.

And it's something that I never was able to do either, even in my most recent experience of going to Scotland, that I feel like that only when I think back after it was all over that I feel like that there were things like, oh yeah, why did they ask me that? You know what? That makes sense now why they were asking me about that specific thing. But in the moment, I think I was just always more thinking about like, what am I going to say next as opposed to listening to the questions that I was being asked and thinking about why am I getting this particular question? Oh, okay. So maybe it's good that I don't make good television. Because I don't think of what I'm going to say. I don't even know. I think it's a different skill set. And I think it speaks to what makes you so savvy is, you know,

you're thinking more about the questions you're being asked as opposed to what you're going to say. I'm 100% playing the game. I mean, that's all I'm, that's what I go for. 100% is just this beautiful, fun game that I love so much, you know. I just, I love Survivor. I love it. I'd love to get your thoughts a little bit more on Mike White and how dangerous he is as a player. What did you think about Mike coming back in this season?

Yeah, shocked. I was very surprised that he wanted to come back, you know. And I'm not really sure maybe because it's so iconic. You know, I can't imagine anybody saying no to coming back to play Survivor 50. And maybe he just thought that he would regret it if he didn't. Yeah. But I think that he reached out to Jeff. and asked to play.

They said he was the first person to contact them and say, I want to play. Ah, okay. Okay. Interesting. Yeah. Now, maybe if we had, you know, Jeff's contact info, maybe you do. Maybe we could have like, maybe he's easier to text. I do have Jeff's contact.

Okay. You know, that should have been the move then to reach out. But, you know, I think that Mike, he is also. sick and he loves Survivor, but I think that he really gets a lot out of the experience of being on Survivor. And I think it really was like a transformative experience for him to have gone out and played the first time. Yeah, apparently, I mean, look at his physique, you know, to go out that second time and be that prepared, you know? I mean, that's not, that's not taking a casual interest in the game.

He had some skin in the game. Yes, and was showing some skin in the game. Yeah, he did show. He didn't show him. See, Rob. Yeah. And he came back, and I think that for Mike, the first time he played,

I think that he was able to sort of just play up, that he's like, oh, I don't really know what's going on. And I think that especially with Christian there, I don't think anybody was forgetting, like, how good he is at Survivor. I don't think it was easy for people to forget about Mike at any point in this game. Yes, and I love what he revealed last night, too, about his skill set. Yeah.

About, you know, selling people. Yes. And selling an idea or selling a show or whatever it is that he's selling. You know, I didn't know that. I didn't know that about him. I didn't know that about that's how he sees himself and views. himself, but I think by him revealing that, that shows you what a danger he really was. Yeah.

I thought that that was framed so interestingly about how when you're trying to sell something, and whether it's in Hollywood or any sort of like investment that you would try to get somebody to put into some business or some venture, you are, I guess, a little bit of a con artist. And like, yeah, the thing's not real, but you're talking about it. But I think that I would say to Mike, if I was going to be able to respond to him, I don't think that he is like a con artist because a con artist is like, they know the thing that they are going to do,

that they know that you are giving them the money and the thing is not actually going to happen. That's the difference between a con artist and what he does. I think that where you really have to do the sales job is like internally of that you need to like really sell yourself on the like hey this is the thing that I'm going to do and I think if you can do a good enough job sales job on yourself then I think that people can see that passion and that vision in you and I think that that's why he's so successful is that he really does believe that he's going to be able to deliver what he's saying to people so I wouldn't frame it as being a con man yeah I agree with you 100 percent I think it's a little scary

that, you know, his ability to come up with that analogy to try to sell Christian, I would have never in a million years, million years come up with that to say to Christian. So that's where I think the game is so many levels above me. You know, I mean, I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning, much less. All the nuances to all the different players, to who did what to who, you know, I don't have. have that kind of knowledge to use against anybody. But as we're talking about this same kind of scheme, but also remember when Ceree did the exact same thing trying to save Ozzy.

Yes, yes. And she goes to Savannah, and Savannah, she picked up on it right away. And I'm like, I would have just been so gullible and, you know, gone along with Surrey, you know, but Savannah, you know, she was, she's like, I think I'm getting a sales job here. You know. Yeah. But I think the difference between what Surrey did and what Mike ended up doing, I think that Mike went like one step too far, where I think that what was so beautiful about how Surrey did it was that she sort of like was

leading people almost all the way there and was letting them then make that last conclusion of like, oh, wait, you know what? You're right. Or, you know what I think we should do? I think we should save Ozzie and vote out Savannah. And where Mike was so taking Christian all the way there of like, see that, don't you think that Gabby is just like, or Emily is just like Gabby? And don't you remember when Gabby ended up screwing up your games? Don't you think we should get rid of Emily today?

Isn't that the right idea? As opposed to taking Christian far enough where then he could make the leap and say, you know what? Maybe we should get rid of Emily. Yeah. So that he would feel like maybe that was part of his idea. Because we don't like it. Like, don't tell me what to do, Mike. I'll make up my own mind. Exactly. Yeah.

Who do you think's playing really, really good? So, you know, I think that the people that might be playing the best, for the people that we haven't really seen go to tribal council too much so far. And I think that some of these players that are going over and over and over again, I think are getting a little over exposed. I think that Christian is in kind of a dangerous spot now, because I think that he is now made a few enemies in a very small tribe between Angelina and Ozzie. And I think when push comes to shove, I'm not sure if Emily is going to have his back.

So I think that Christian has done a great job so far, but I'm worried that he is just running out of runway with these people that he has had to betray to some degree. So I think that people that are playing the best games are probably some of the people that we've just seen avoiding the tribal councils and avoiding the drama. And I would say, you know, Surrey is like landed in a good spot after she was in some early hot water and she seems like that she's doing okay with her new tribe. Have you ever run into Surrey in all your many travels? Yes, yeah, I have. And she, you know, she was at the airport whenever we were going out for All-Star.

Is it All-Star? She was at the airport for Survivor All-Stars? Did she play All-Star? Well, she was, she didn't play until after All-Stars. Did she play All-Star? My All-Star season? I don't, no, not season eight. Okay.

I went into her at the airport somewhere. I have no doubt that she goes to the airport a lot. Yeah. Huh. Okay. Yeah. But I've seen her. Yeah.

But we've never really set down to have a really good conversation ever. Yeah. What about watching her from afar? I think she's got a great social game. And really not so great physical game. If she were on my tribe, I would probably vote her out. Really? Yeah.

Just because, like, she lost the challenge for them single-endedly, I feel like. And she's done that multiple times in multiple seasons, being the weakest person on the tribe. And because I just feel like, you know, if we can't win our challenge, then we're going to travel and we don't want to go to travel. So let's make the team as strong as we can. So, you know, that's kind of Survivor 101. So I was really surprised when they didn't vote her out. Yeah. I thought that was probably to their detriment.

Yes. But you were happy because they voted out, Jenna Lewis. Yes. So you gave them a. asked for that. Yeah. It was consolation prize. Yeah.

What do you think about coach so far? You know what? I think he's playing a good game. He's playing a good game. And like I watched a few things before the season started about who were the players most excited to play with. So many of them said coach. Yeah.

So I think that, you know, his fan base in the game, is pretty big. Yeah. I think he made a couple of enemies there, you know, whenever he stole the key, but... But this is Ozzy. Yeah. So, you know, maybe that might be something,

but I just think that the players really seem to want to play with him. Yeah. He is a charismatic guy, you know? So we'll see if that remains to be enjoyable to play with or ends up becoming annoying to play with. You know, it can go either way. Yeah, Tina, he famously had the wrestling match with Colby back in the beginning of Heroes versus Villains and then ended up taking frog marching famously Colby to the mat.

And that was really sort of like just a harbinger of like what was going to come for Colby in Heroes versus Villains, where it was not going to be such a shining resume piece for him from a physical standpoint. But now him and coach, it looks like that they have a pretty good working relationship. Colby talked about Coach as being a romance and that they have this friendship from, they didn't really know each other from Heroes versus Villains,

but can you speak a little bit to what it must be like to, at least, okay, I've known this person for 15 years. I think I can work with them. Yeah, you know what? certain people, I'll speak to the male genre right now. Please. There are some males that go out, just like there's some females that go out. And their whole thought is, you know, let's woo the opposite sex, you know, and that's their

strategy. And I think that there are some guys that go out, and they're just more guys, you know, they want to hang out with the macho guys, and they want to form these bromel. And so, yeah, I think, like, Joe, Kobe, coach, I'm not sure about Ozzy. I'm not sure that he fits into that romance part very much. I think he might go the other way with girls. I've heard it both ways. I feel very threatened.

Like, whenever I played my season of Blood versus Water, that Tyson-Jervis-Ris combination, I fluctuated between forming my alliance with them or branching off and doing an all-girls alliance because I felt so threatened by those three guys because they were extremely close. They were having a very good time together. And that's a threat.

And so I think that's, if I'm a player, I'm paying attention to that. people need to kind of keep that in check whenever they're playing out there. So who knows what's going to happen. Do you think in any ways, are there any similarities between coach and Keith? I kind of feel like that Keith is almost like a coach light. Like he has a lot of stories, right?

He's done a lot of, like, grandiose things. Like he... That's true. That's true. And you're like, really kind of like also, who was the FBI agent guy? Phillip, yeah. Philip, yeah.

So, yeah, they're definitely, they're similar. I can see why you're saying that. Yeah. I won't say that I see a big similarity, but I can see why you're saying. Yeah, okay, maybe a coach is like a more amplified version of that. Yes, coach is coach. There's nobody's coach, you know,

coach is in his own genre. Yeah. Now, you're down in Florida. I'm wondering, have you ever run into Jonathan, who I think is down? I think he's in Alabama, but he's always visiting Boston Rob, who's also down in Pensacola. No, I saw Jonathan at the reality rally thing. Okay. Four years ago, ran into him there and talked to him a little bit.

But nope, I don't run into people. I never see anybody. I'm on my own. Island, Rob. What kind of impression did Jonathan make on you? Bromance. Yes. That he, you know, he formed that great friendship with Mike Turner. Yeah.

You know? And Boston Robb, you know, he's in with Boston Robb. And I think he and Kobe are pretty good friends, you know. So I think that he's definitely a bromance kind of guy. Yeah. Okay. But he's a very nice guy and I know about his mission trips. I follow that really closely on his Instagram. So I think he's got an amazing heart for humanity, which I'm very impressed with. So, and he, and he's kind of a quiet, subdued kind of guy. He's, he's not out there. Like, coach is a mouth, you know, he expresses whatever comes through his brain. And Jonathan is just more humble, I think, you know. So one of the things I'd love to get your take on is,

is that, you know, with the people that come back and played with each other, like Mike and Christian and Angelina, now Mike got Christian out in David versus Goliath. And now here, now Christian had this opportunity to take Mike out. I know, obviously, in some of your past experiences and Survivor All-Stars, where I'm sure for Jerry, it meant something to outlast you. we saw with Ethan and Lex where Lex said to Ethan

hey now it's your turn to go out before me like do do we underrate how much of a factor that is for the players who come back with people from their previous seasons absolutely

you know it's so funny because I was really so happy I don't have anything to do with Jenna. I don't know her, really, other than playing with her, and I've done a couple of events. So I don't know her, know her. But whatever that is inside of you, they receive so much joy for her to get hers, you know, for getting me, which I don't know how to balance that

with the, okay, well, the current survivor is every man for himself, right? So I wonder, if the players now have that same sort of frustration or yes you do yeah Emily in the preseason talked about D and D was the winner of her season she said well how embarrassing would it be if I lost to her twice and I think that there is this idea of revenge being a dish best served cold and even if you did that that person didn't even specifically do it to me you know you kind of want to say well okay well but this time I won. I got further than you this time. Yes. Yes. And I don't know. That must be something to do with our human egos. I don't know. But definitely. I'm not immune to it because when I came back with

Jenna Maraska from that we had just played on the Amazon and when we were great friends, but I still wanted to get further than her. And isn't that okay? I mean, because what's the alternative? Oh, no, you go first. No, you, you go first. You know, that's not survivor. You know, so, yeah, I think it's just, I think it's human nature.

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That's why I remember 988, Canada's Suicide Crisis Hubline. It's good to know just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 98, suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada. You know, last night we had a survivor first. We had where we had Jeff called it the greatest reward in the history of the show. And you've been on some good ones, right? Oh, yeah, but wow.

Zach Brown showed up to catch fish and cook and perform. Now, we heard Coach stay, like, this is what we say in Tennessee. First off, does coach have Tennessee roots to be able to quote from Tennessee? He does? He does. He was born in Knoxville. Wow. I didn't know that.

Look at you. I know. I'm proud of him. Yes. He doesn't see. I think he doesn't have much hillbilly left in him, though. I think it's washed out of his blood. Yeah.

But anyway, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know how long he was there, but I think he might have even gone to high school there. Okay. So were you familiar with Zach Brown? Yes. Okay. I'm a country girl. I was not. I was not.

You didn't know the fried chicken song? I really didn't. No, I'm sorry, Tina. Yeah. I know a lot about him now. Okay. Yeah. And I think he's big cancer.

Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, I think he had cancer and I think he's big, see the cancer or leukemia or something, I think. Yeah. And they didn't talk about that. But I was wondering if that was part of the reason for him being there too. Yeah. Oh, that his background, what he's overcome? Yeah.

That maybe, because he's friends with Jeff, I don't know. Yeah. And maybe to do something to reward him for his hanging in there, you know. Maybe. So, yeah, I wanted to know what was your take on them having? Because they've never had anything really like this before, where a celebrity shows up and then, like, hosts a reward for the survivors. Did you like it?

I did like it. What I think is happening, I think there's going to be a buildup. Because, you know, there was the thing with Rachel Adams. Oh, the movie, yes, the Rachel McAdams, yeah. And Jeff did a, there was a funny camera. MEO going out that he thought she was really auditioning and he's like, oh, well, we'll see you on the season. And she's like, no, wait, no, that's just a creepy before movie. Yeah. I kind of feel like they're doing a buildup of trying to, you know, these celebrities, Billy Alice, you know,

all these things are starting to come on, maybe trying to do a buildup for a, you know, a survivor that- Celebrity season? Celebrities, I do. Okay. Would Elizabeth come back for the celebrity season. No, I don't think he's not doing that. Under any circumstances are we ever going to see that sweet little face ever again. So, I know that you are a Zach Brown fan. I wonder, who

would be your Zach Brown in terms of like where Dee says, okay, you don't understand. Zach Brown is the soundtrack to my life. Yes. Oh my goodness. That is so hard. You know, I grew up with 70s music.

and I love the 70s music. But I can't give you a really good answer because my go-to now is my church music. That sounds so boring. But it's really, really, really good church music. Elevation Live. Okay. The rockiness music ever.

Are they Survivor fans? Maybe they could get them out. Well, he's meeting Survivor a couple of times in his sermon. Maybe, you know. Okay. So that would be my honest answer. But there's just so many, like, need to breathe. Do you know need to breathe?

I don't know need to breathe. Okay. They've got some really good music. And I didn't know Zach Brown either. What do you listen to? You know, I really do listen to a lot of older music also. But I would say that my all-time favorite is Billy Joel. Oh.

I don't know if they can get a piano out of the music. sanctuary. No. No, probably not. I don't know Billy Joel was going to catch dinner for anybody. No, I don't either. Zach Brown was a good choice to bring out. Well, they could have like scenes from an Italian restaurant of like, okay, everybody, we got a bottle of red, we got a bottle of white. I wasn't sure that there were a whole lot of Zach Brown fans on the season. There were a lot. More now. Okay. All right. Because I was, I was a lot. I was. wasn't sure many of them were country music people. Now, did Colby at all tell you about, like, boy, Tina, that it was, this was the best day of my life with Zach Brown.

You wouldn't believe how great this was. No. No. I didn't call him last night to get his take on it. So, but that wouldn't be Kobe. Yeah. Why he just. It would take more than that.

It would take more than that. He wouldn't be like, like, it was fine. Zach Brown would have to. to take him one-on-one to do something for it to be really. Like, did you notice? I mean, Kobe was a little bit. Muted? No, he, yeah, I mean, he, like, even whenever Zach Brown came up on the boat,

no, Kobe, everybody else was reading him. Where's Kobe? What was his problem? I don't know. I'm like, it's just bizarre to me. I've got a little PTSD from back whenever he played. in heroes and villains and he was kind of where I'm getting that feeling a little bit with this one but with Zach Brown you think that he has something against Zach Brown?

No no no no I'm just like he didn't go seem all that excited like there were a couple of people who seemed really thrilled but you know yeah and a couple people who like they know that they're on camera right that they know that they have to act excited exactly and Kobe Kobe's pretty chill. You know, he's not, he is not one, I think, this season to want to be a camera hog, you know, not at all. Yeah. And then also for everybody, they got to eat the food that Zach Brown called. Did you know that Zach Brown was such an accomplished fisherman?

I did not. And again, because of my picky food habits, I would have been mortified. I forgot about that. I would not have eaten one thing at that meal, not one thing. And how embarrassing would that be that Zach Brown came all his way and cooked this smorgas bored of your food? And I'm like, no, thank you. Even when I'm starving, no, thank you.

You wouldn't eat any fish or was that he was preparing it? No, I'm not a fish person. I mean, like, I ate fish on my first season, you know, but we were truly starving. and we cooked it, cooked it. I think his was more like sushi cooked. Yeah. Like, I can't do that. It seemed like they had some sides, though.

I didn't like them. It looked like beans. Yeah. Vegetables. Nah, not happening. You know, remember when we got the reward? I mean, on a blood versus water, they had all this stuff. Which one?

Blood versus water. Well, I don't remember which reward did you get. Oh, a bunch of stuff I didn't like. No. So the one thing that I would eat was, I think it might have been. Doritos. We didn't have Doritos. What is the thing?

That's also burned into my brain, the way that you said Doritos. Yeah, it's a three-syllable. Doritos, very. What is it that you fly? And was it mountain dew also that you got? Dr. Pepper. My staples. Yeah, but did they, in the outback,

did they give you Mountain Dew? Was that what you, did you also win that as a reward? No. Okay. I don't like Mountain Dew either, though. Yeah. But drink it.

What is it that you slice? Is it, and maybe put on pizza? Pepperoni. But it wasn't pepperoni. Salami? Yeah, salami. Do you, do you slice salami and put it on pizza? You could.

There was something that we got that was, I tried it and I couldn't eat it. But once they cooked it, it was good? Yeah, it tasted kind of like bacon. Yeah, I think that that's sort of like they give you like some sort of like charcutory, like cured meats. That seems like a common survivor thing to give you. So for me, I don't care what it is, cook it. If it's a banana, cook it and then maybe I'll eat it, you know. I'm just not big on raw anything.

Can I ask you about Colby? We saw it in the beginning of the game. He had this interesting relationship with the Riz God where he felt like at first, he's like, boy, this kid is getting on my nerves. But then he took him under his wing and had sort of like a father-son relationship with Rizzo. Were you proud of Colby?

I was. And that is something that we talked about before him going in, actually. Yeah. He talked about maybe wanting to mentor some of the younger people, which I was kind of surprised to hear, you know, because Kobe's really, you know,

like I think he said in our first season, he didn't come out here to make friends. And so I was very surprised to hear Kobe make that statement that, you know, that was something that he'd like to do while he was out there. Yeah. So we also got some behind the scenes footage where that he was very against,

people swearing. He wanted to also talk to Rizzo about how he didn't like that he was swearing too much. Really? Yes. Interesting. Because I've had that conversation with Kobe. Yes. Do you think that he passed that on, that you gave that to him and he's like, okay, listen, now, if you want to win Survivor, first thing you got to do, no cursing. Maybe. I like it. I didn't see that. Was that on something? So Mike Bloom filmed it when he was out on location. and he showed us the video of that. Really? Well, that makes me happy.

Yes. Yeah, because my thing with Kobe was, I'm like, Kobe, honey, you were this all-natural Marlboro man, Texan, you know, you've got all this charisma. Don't ruin it, you know? I mean, nobody, it's not classy. Don't do it, you know. Tina, I have some questions.

for you that we have from the listeners of the podcast. And we have some good ones today. Okay. Lay it on me. All right. Brianna wants to ask you, okay. So Mike White, after your season, said to Jeff, they were going to do a, blood versus water two was going to be San Juan Del Sir.

And Mike White told Jeff, don't do Redemption Island. Nobody likes Redemption Island. Was Mike White right when he told Jeff that Redemption Island is not good for Survivor? Yes. Okay. And the reason why I say that is, first of all, you know, there's nothing going on at Redemption Island. We're just there waiting to do a challenge, right? So by the time everybody passes through and we get to the point where we're finally doing the one challenge that's going to get us back in the game, I feel like if I'm a player and I did not go to Redemption Island, I don't really want you here because I'm the one who's had to play. I'm the one who's had to go to all these other tribal councils. I'm the one who's done all this.

And you've been sitting out there, you know, at Redemption Island doing whatever you do. And I don't know. Even me having gone to Redemption Island, getting another opportunity to come back in the game, game and being given a second chance, and if I had won that last challenge, I really do think that I would have won that season as well. But after I watched the season, I think it wouldn't have really been fair to Tyson because Tyson played a good, solid game all the way through. Yeah.

You know? And so that whole time that I was in Redemption Island, he was playing a really hard game. game. And so it would have taken away from his gameplay. So, you know, I could have got lucky won that last challenge and won. Yeah. I actually, I think that they should still have it on, you know, I think they can't do it with 24 people. That's, that's too many people. But I wouldn't mind it if they did it and they only brought somebody back at the merge. I think that when they bring somebody back too late in the game, I agree with what you're saying that it's sort of like, it's not as fair. Even though you were only on reddit.

Damnion Island for maybe, what, like, eight or nine days? Why was been half the time? No, it couldn't have been, right? It was after the merge, and then you came back, look at the Chris Underwood, who was, got voted out on day eight. Gosh. Yeah, that's ugly. That's ugly.

So compared to that, you were there for, like, a cup of coffee on Redent's Island. I was there a long time. Well, maybe, I can't believe you don't know the answer to that. So I'm just trying to think, so when they used to do the merge, it was probably, probably around like day 20 and then maybe you came back day 36. So maybe it was like 16 days or something. Okay. I guess.

I'm guessing. Okay. So then how many days did I play before I went in to the redemption island? I would guess 20. Okay. So it was pretty close. It was almost 50 people. Yeah.

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what strategy did you give Colby before he came back? Um, be level from a lot of people. Be level. You know, yeah. Colby has, he can do this emotionally inside. And he can have a really good day and a really bad day. Really good day, really bad day.

Yeah. And so I just encouraged him to try to keep a very steady demeanor throughout the game. Yeah. So you've had the distinct opportunity to watch. watch Colby grow as a person from, what was he, 25, 26 when you first met him to now, he's in his early 50s. How was Colby different now than he was when he was a younger man? Wow.

Well, he was full of pissing vinegar when he was a young man. And so I don't know which one he doesn't have now. Writing Harleys, but that was like you, too. No, I've still got it. Yeah. I haven't lost it. No, I think he's, he's, you know, he's had his lifetime of having his own show and, you know, doing a movie and doing his whole thing out in L.A.

and having that life of what he thought maybe he wanted. And so I think coming back, like that's what he has said, he said, you know, I'm back to the same Kobe that I was in my first season. I'm doing my welding and my, you know, this, by that, whatever, ranching and blah, la, la. So he has come full circle. But in my opinion, that full circle, is back to the person that Kobe really is. I think by him doing the other stuff that he did,

I mean, granted, he probably wouldn't change that for all the money in the world, which I wouldn't either. Some great opportunities for him. But that's not who he is. Yeah. This is who he is, you know? And so that's what I think, you know,

as far as who Kobe is and, I think this is the much better version of himself is now. Yeah, he went on such an interesting journey where that he was, I think, and what was he, an auto detailing when he first got going on Survivor, and then he becomes like one of the most famous people in America and he's on this superstar trajectory, this Hollywood career. And then when he comes back to Survivor,

these are not necessarily things that are getting him closer to being a movie star, being on Survivor. Sure, he's on TV, but it's like, what am I even doing here? Is this what I want? And then to be away from it for so long, to then come back, it's like, okay, well, now I can just appreciate this thing for what it is. And it's not necessarily like a means to an end to get closer to this other goal. Right. And I kind of feel like that maybe whenever he was doing it, the TV and movie stuff that maybe, you know, he wasn't being encouraged to go back,

that that wasn't something that they thought would be good for his career. Right. You know, whereas as normal people, we don't have that pressure. We don't have a career to have to worry about if this decision is going to be good or bad for it. I just want to go play the game, you know. But that's the lovely thing. about Survivor is it takes us all on our own journeys. And we have to, you know, it gives us great gifts. It gives us great disappointments. You know, we're all going to kind of have a, not a love, hate,

because I wouldn't say anything about Survivor do I hate. But, you know, there's a lot of disappointments that come with it as well. Sure. But so many more highs, so many more highs than lows. Yeah. All 751 of us. us have very complicated feelings with this thing. Absolutely. And I think I told you, like I've had three dreams this week already about Survivor. I still, it is so much in my head that, but it's not like, I'm not like you in that I have all these statistics and all this knowledge.

It's just that, and it's not PTSD because not all of my dreams are bad. but it is just so much a part of my brain and that it just comes out night after night, you know, it's just amazing. If I may ask, what is happening in your survivor dreams? Most all of them have to do with challenges. I thought you were going to say Christian for a second. Oh, no, I haven't said Christian in my dreams yet, but it's still early. Like last night, I dreamed that I was in China at this competition,

and it wasn't survivor related, but all the Chinese people were in these rows and doing their calisthenics, and I'm like, well, maybe I need to do calisthenics. But all the buildings were very old, and they had them mowed the grass. So I went behind a building, and I started doing push-ups. I can't do a push-up, but I did 15 push-ups, and I'm like, Yeah, baby, I'm good. And then I'm like, well, now I'll do some burpees.

And I did a burpee. And I'm like, oh, those aren't very fun. Maybe I go for a run. So I was going to go up to my room and get my earbuds and I ran into Tyson. Okay. And he looked really tired. I said, Tyson, you look tired. Do you need a coffee?

He said, no, but could you get me a summer water? I'm like, summer water? What's that? He said, it's in the vending machine. So I'm like, okay. So very random. Stupid. Yeah, what's a summer water?

It was in the vending machine. I don't know. Is it a brand of like mineral water? So yes. And it was in the vending machine. I'll have a summer water. Yeah. But Tyson was in my dream.

Tyson is in, for some reason, Tyson is in a lot of my dreams. Yes. A lot of my dreams. Tina, I know you would play Survivor again. A lot of people want to know would you play again. But you would, right? Of course.

Okay. But Kindness Patrol asked, would Tina do the traitors? Would we see Tina on TV again? Would you follow in my footsteps? And would you go to Scotland? I don't know the premise of the show. I haven't seen it. But I know it's a very, very, very popular show.

Tell me what the premise is. So that you go to a castle, okay? In Scotland, you'd love it. Okay? And then... Cold? Is it cold? It is cold.

Yeah. Okay. But it's toasty in the castle. Okay. Sometimes too much so. Okay. And then you go there and then they pick out like three or four people and they make them, they're the traitors, but nobody knows. And then every night you go to sleep and the traitors, they murder somebody.

Sometimes they have all sorts of crazy ways that they do it. to. And then you go to breakfast and then somebody's missing. And then you have to figure out who the traders are. And then at nighttime, you vote somebody out. You're voting out somebody? You kick somebody out because you want to, you have to, like, figure out who the traders are. You're trying to figure it out. That's who you're trying to vote out. Yes. You try to vote out the people who are the traders because they're, because they're in nighttime, they're three or four. So there's a secret one. So there's a lot. It was a lot.

So it would be hard because even if like you vote somebody out who's a traitor, there's still two or three more. Sometimes then they add more also. So that would be really hard. So are you really trying to vote out a traitor or are you just voting out people you don't like? It goes both ways. Huh. Are there fun challenges to do? Maybe fun for the viewers sometimes.

Why do you say that? I wouldn't really say that fun to do. Are they, what are they like, I love challenges. Yeah, there's challenges. You know, he gets to run around. There's somebody row a boat. Roll a boat? Yeah, there's like rowing.

Are there any rewards for doing these challenges? Yeah, you put money in the pot. You don't win like Doritos or anything. Do you win the money in the pot? Well, if you get to the end with no traders. But if the traders get to the end, they get the money. Oh, what if just one trader gets to the end? They get all the money.

Ah, just those four? No, well, no, that sometimes they get the traders that they, you lose some traders along the way. How long is this game? It's about, takes about the three weeks. You tell me, would I like traders and would I do good? Hmm. I think, you know, I would, you know, you would, I don't want to, I don't want to, you. say that because you could surprise me. I think that you being a trader would be a struggle,

but I think it would be fun to watch if you were one of the traders and you had to pretend that you were one of the faithful the whole time. Well, I think the trader is a good trader. You have to be able to be able to be lying to everybody and act like you're not. Oh boy. I do think that you'd be good at figuring out who the traders are. Yeah, that might be a strong longer suit of men. Yes. So I think that you would be good there. But I think that people, like,

I think the traders might want to just murder you because I think that people would have a hard time imagining that you were a traitor. And I think they would never banish you from the castle because I think that people would just say, okay, Tina is definitely not a traitor. So they would keep me. They would want to keep you,

but then the traders would want to get rid of you because they like to keep around the people who are either bad at figuring out who the traders are or that people who might, get banished. Oh. Huh. Why did people get banished?

Sometimes it's because they're too sussed. They're, that they seem very shady. And other times it's just to make up some reason of like, oh, you were in that room for too long. You must be a traitor. Are there alliances? There are some alliances, yeah. Hmm.

Hmm. Okay. So would I enjoy it, you think? I think so. I think that you'd be up for it. It's an adventure. Okay. Yeah.

Jay, you should check it out. It's a popular show. Okay. Yeah. And they have a lot of survivors on it. Oh. Lost and Rob has been on it. Oh.

Then you went. Did you do good? Not, I don't want to spoil it for you. Why? Remember when we went to the Survivor All-Stars? Remember that, Tina? Yeah? It was a lot like that.

Yeah. Why? Why? What did you do? Too smart, too smart. Got to go, you know, you could be too, if you're so, so good at the games that you're bad at the games. That's really what is my lot in life. Were you disappointed?

I really was, but I was, I got over it much quicker. Okay. Do you get to go home after you? Yeah, then you go home. So you're not stuck there. And my wife was wonderful during that time. She was very, she really was very, like, really the best. Do they treat you well there?

Yes, you treat it very well. And now, I don't know, I can't say, if you're very thinking about the food, I don't know if you're going to love it, but. Oh, really? Yeah, but you eat. Do you have choices? Some choices, yeah. Is chicken one of the choices you have every day?

Do you want chicken every day? I do. Yes. Okay. You got chicken every day. Okay, thank you. But it might not be just plain. They might, like,

pair it differently. The most important thing for me, like, I don't mind hard. You know, I like hard things. I don't mind hard. But there has to be a carrot for me.

Like, what's my carrot? Mm-hmm. In playing the game, in traders. What would be my carrot? Well, you could want to win the money. How much money?

It's like $250,000. dollars, so they've split it with like four people. I mean, after you want a million, I don't know, if it's really enough to get you out of bed in the morning,

but, you know, it's something. Well, for me, I mean, the game would be, I love winning.

You know me. I love to win. Yes. So, okay, well, if there was some fun, interesting people,

and I got, do you ever go outside the castle? Yeah, you go outside, you do the missions outside of the castle. Okay. Yeah. I just want to,

I just want to have fun. Yes. I think you'd have fun. Okay. Yeah. Somebody I went with is a great backgammon player. I love Beckgammon. I know you do.

Do you get to play? We didn't play any backgammon and he wasn't really there for that long. Oh, man. But he's one of the top 250 backgammon players in the world. Seriously? Yeah, but it didn't really help him on the traders. Oh, man. He and I would have liked us because they probably would want us

talking to other people and we'd just be playing backgammon. Yeah. Okay. This is from a user Survivor Women's Alliance. Does Tina have any stories of amazing things she did after Survivor like awards shows? I talked about how we went to the, remember when we gave the award to the Gilligan's Island cast? Yes. I love that because I was such a Gilligan's Island fan.

Yeah. I watched it. I watched all the episodes when I was little. I loved Gilligan so much in Marianne. So that was such a highlight. And there was nice. Yeah. And then getting talked to Barney Fife and Andy Griffith.

And that was so fun. But let me tell you, my favorite was the baseball all-star game because it was at Safecoast Stadium, which is beautiful. And the outfield. That's Seattle, right? Yes. Manicured immaculately.

and Tug McGraw, Tim McGraw's dad. Okay. Warming up with Tug McGraw. Hello. Meatloaf who had, he's a softball player. Is Meatloaf your Zach Brown? No. But it was really fun having these conversations with him.

Yeah. Vanderbeek, who just passed away. Yeah. That was my, you know, meeting him. Vanessa Williams. Don Maddingly, Steve Garvey Jr., just all these people. And that was one of the first things that I did. And I can remember going, I'm in the outfield, tears just streaming down my face because I'm

thinking, we're just, we're not the TV people. We're the average people, you know? This does not happen in real life, you know? And at that time, it's like I kept getting phone calls. because this was this was when Survivor was a dream. It was absolute dream. Did Reebok commercials, Tyson Chicken, the Grammys, got to go to the Grammys where, not Beaufort.

What's the guy who had the motorcycle wreck whose faces kind of disfigured, who he's cuckoo for cocapus. Gary Busey. Gary Bucie. Who is such a survivor freak. He was like... Wow, Gary Busey was a big survivor fan. Yes, he might... Who knows?

He might be on the celebrity version that just want to do, I'm sure. So he, I mean, who gets to do all these things? Yeah. And the Oscars that got canceled because of the 9-11 thing that was still going to Oscar party. Yes. You all were like from the time that your finale aired, which was what, May of 2001.

And then 9-11, you know, changes everything. But three months, you were like the Beatles. It was, I would, that's been for my lifetime. that time period is one outside of having my children that's my biggest gift that's my biggest gift just getting to not the money but getting to do all these insane things that are just you know what a gift yeah and you almost gotten very close during that time when you're like basically like you were out there for 42 days but then you were probably on the road for three or four months. Yeah, I was only

that first year. I was only home about three days a month. That whole first year, three days a month. It's crazy. Okay. Let's see. What other questions

do people have from you? Aaron Mulvey was so who else in touch with from the Australian Outback besides Colby? Roger. I'm real close to Roger. How's Rod you doing? Roger's doing great. He makes, he makes woodworking stuff, so he always sends me a Christmas gift of something that he's made.

It's really pretty, you know. So I've got some pretty lovely things from him. Mitchell, I love Mitchell. He's come to see me in North Carolina a few times. I haven't made it to North Dakota or South Dakota, whichever Dakota he's from. I just can't bring myself to go there. But I love him. Jerry, I love him. Jerry, I love him. her. I mean, who would have ever known that she and I would end up having a feelings for each other? I just love her. Yeah. Who else? I think that's about it. Yeah. Did you see how Jerry was feeling really left out for Survivor 15? Did you all talk about that? I didn't talk to her. I had some things I wanted to tell her, but I didn't know if it was appropriate or not, you know,

because in my opinion, like, I'm disappointed. I'm every bit as disappointed as she is, you know. I think everybody who really was hoping to get on the show and didn't feels that great sense of disappointment. But the difference is, Survivor doesn't define me. My life is so full and complete and happy and joy-filled and content that I'm not going to have that reaction. You know, yeah, it would be something fun to do, but that's it, you know? I mean, it doesn't define me. Whereas I was kind of feeling like, you know, if you don't have something else inside of you, then not getting chosen to go on this show makes that big of an impact on you,

then I kind of question, you know, what's going on on the inside, if that makes sense. And I didn't really feel like I should say that to her. Yeah. It would have been fun to see her come back, though. I agree. And especially because her and Colby have played every other single time together. Like, I think that I felt like that that was like a interesting part of the story.

too. Yeah, but let me just say I got a little pissed when they asked Kobe who do you wish was out here with you and he said Jerry instead of me I'm like, ah, I'll take my million dollars. Right. No,

I'm like, well, that kind of surprised me. I thought he would pick her over me, but oh well. Yeah. Well, it was still messed up that they didn't bring you for Survivor 40. I know. We're still not over that. I know. What's the deal, Rob? What is the deal?

I don't know. I'm a loser. Okay. Let me see. What else? Do you have any thoughts on the Billy Elish boomerang idol? I'm not fond of it. You know a thing or two about a boomerang from being in Australia.

Do not. We haven't seen how it's going to impact the game yet. You know, we've just seen the people who have gotten it. one thing people why do the people always tell people I've got this boomerang idol

why do people share that information it's just going to put a target and it's dumb you know dumb for people to talk about it but then I'll be interested to see how it if it has an impact on the game

outside of it being any other kind of idol but again, maybe, you know, does Jeff need these celebrities to somehow validate that Survivor is the ultimate reality show? I don't know. Or is he planning a celebrity season? Does Tina know something that maybe somebody else doesn't? I don't know. Yeah. I feel like that they want these celebrities to tell their fans to check out Survivor, and I think that they feel like that maybe they're going to bring more people into the tent. But I'm not sure necessarily, if I'm like a Zach Brown fan who doesn't care about Survivor, did I check out Survivor last night to see Zach Brown goes fierce fishing?

Well, good question. Has anybody looked at the ratings to find that out? Well, I didn't look at the ratings of the overall TV viewers, but they do have a website called IMDB, where the fans can rate an episode of television. And last night's episode was the rated episode of all-time. Are you serious? Yeah. Really? What's the thought?

The thought is, it's like, what are you doing? This is like, I love Survivor. It's almost like if you love baseball, it would be weird if like, okay, and then today, after the fourth inning, like, we're going to have. a concert and then we'll come back to the game. I didn't want to watch a concert. I wanted to watch the baseball game. So why are you? I'm here because this is Survivor 50.

Why am I? What are we doing here? Interesting. Okay. And so the majority felt that way. I'm sure there were people who loved Zach Brown, who were psyched that he was there. The problem is that on the internet, it's mostly the people who are there with like lots of opinions about Survivor, and I feel like that may be more of like the casual audience, might have either been like, eh, whatever, who cares? Or, oh, that was cool. But people who talk about Survivor a lot really did not like it. Okay. Do they feel like it's tainting the

water a little bit, maybe? A little bit. I think they feel like, hey, we've waited all this. This is Survivor 50. I want to see Colby. I want to see all these. I want to see more of these, my favorites. And why am I watching Zach Brown go fishing? Yeah. I can understand that. I can understand. I get that. Yeah. Because I will say that I kind of felt a little bit towards the end, like when he was playing the music. Yeah. But I was ready to see more Survivor. Right, right. I get that. Yeah. What if he just came to the camp and hung out?

Yeah. And so for that, I feel bad for Zach Brown. I hope that he doesn't get wind of this and feel like, oh, no. get his feelings hurt. Yeah. I think he'll be fine. Okay. Yeah. But you know what? Not for anything.

What if I went to a Zach Brown podcast and everybody was there or I'm at the Zach Brown concert and then all the sudden, Jack Brown's like, boy, everybody, okay, I know you're all excited for the show, but here's a, I love this guy's podcast. He's going to come out and talk a little survivor. Ladies and gentlemen, Rob Cesterino, like, wow. Oh, my God. Hey, what's up, Zach Brown Nation? Hey, how are you?

Did you see Survivor this week? Let me tell you about what's going on over on Survivor. I know you're here for the concert. We'll get back to the music pretty quick, but let me tell you about what's going on over on Survivor. It's been 25 years. Can you, people be like, boo, get this guy off the stage. I sing the fried chicken song.

Like, oh boy, you like a fried chicken song? Can I tell you last season? Jeff was like, hey, everybody, sing a song about fried chicken song. and waffles. And then this, Jeff Probst was wrapping. Like, get this far off the stage.

Yeah, it does seem, I get your point. Yeah. So people are like, hey, I'm not here for this. I get your point. Yeah.

So I wonder if that's going to be the end of that then. I don't think so. No. I don't know about that. Okay. Yeah.

But Jeff likes it. Yeah. Okay. Well, but if it affects the viewership... We'll see. I mean, but I don't know if it affected the viewership. Okay. We have to check. All right. Tina, what else is on your mind for Survivor?

I don't know. I'm just... I really love this season. I got to say, it's just... I do feel like... And maybe that's why they did this too. It's because it's season 50. Let's throw something good in for the players. I'm sure they enjoyed it, the ones that won, you know? Most of them, yeah.

Yeah, so it's a reward for them. And in fairness to Colby, he only has one good ear. He does? That's what he told. He told Genevieve, I think. He's like, hey, if I'm looking at you, that you got talking to my good ear. So I got one ear, not that doesn't work so good. My eyes don't work too good.

Huh. Was he sitting with that good ear to Zach? Why not? Maybe he, that's why he couldn't enjoy it as much. So maybe that's why they have all these kind of quirky things going on, season 50, just trying to make it a little different. Yeah. So maybe that's why Jeff's had this thing going on. But I've got to say, I've loved it.

I've loved it, loved it, loved it. Whenever I watch it, I talk to the TV just like everybody else does. So whenever my man Christian got out Mike White, I was like, ooh. I was happy. I'm like, I love you, Christian. Yeah. So, yeah. Tina, does Katie keep up with the show?

It's okay if she doesn't. She doesn't. Yeah. No. Well, you know what? But I got the impression, even from way back when he was like, this is my mom's thing. It's not necessarily her thing. True.

And you know what? I mean, she gets up at like 5 o'clock in the morning to go to work. What does she do? She works at a hedge fund company. Oh, look at her. I know. I know she has a very mature, responsible job. Yeah. So, yeah, she gets up really early. And so she doesn't have a whole lot of time for TV. So she comes home, walks the dog, gets up where it goes to bed.

Okay. Look, that's respectable. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Tina, this is so fun to catch up. You're such a bright light. And it's such a joy to get to talk to you about all these things. And I love how enthusiasm, You still are about Survivor after all this time. Of course. 25 years. 25 years that you were on the show 25 years ago at this moment. And it seems, honestly, Rob, it seems like yesterday. It really, I miss, you know, whenever they show that beautiful starry sky, you know,

I can just remember. I love the simplicity of Survivor, you know, as a player, that part of it, of being stripped of everything. I like that part. So, and I think somebody mentioned that, that I don't remember who it was, but this season they were talking about sometimes, you know, that's what makes you really appreciate

the good things in life. Yeah, I think it was Mike White. Was it? Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, I miss that part of it, too. I like feeling very appreciative of things, and boy, it makes you feel that way. Yeah, and you played 42.

days. Now they play the new era. It's only 26 days. You're just getting warmed up in 26 days. I know. Don't get me started on that. And I don't understand that. Don't call it Survivor. Call it. What should they call it? Good question. Let's come up with a name.

Hmm. What about a... Serve. Serve. Serve. They just shorten the word. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Could call it like Survivor Jr.? Mini me, mini Viver.

Mini Viver. Mini Viver. Okay. I don't know. Tina, is there anything that you want people to check out or to follow you anywhere? No. Yeah. Your life is fine.

It's perfect. It is perfect. It is just I couldn't ask for a better life. Yeah. Okay. Well, Tina, thank you so much for making the time to talk with us. We'll keep our fingers crossed for Colby the rest of the way. but he feels like that he's on a good path right now.

I think so. Yeah. So far so good. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Wait, can I? Let's talk about one more little thing.

What's going on with Aubrey? I thought Aubrey would come out a little differently this time. She's very guarded, it seems like, where, you know, I wondered about Aubrey even coming back to play. Because in talking with Aubrey over the years, I always felt like that she was sort of like, I don't really know if I love, you know, doing the whole Survivor thing again. But then she did come out of the woodwork to come back and play. But then I think she kind of is sort of like, I don't know. Is this right?

Can I trust this person? I feel like that she has barriers up. She doesn't really want to let anybody in. I know. And, you know, she had such a cathartic moment when she went out and played. I just had, as a matter of fact, I picked her as one of the front runners in this. because I thought she's going to come out with that enthusiasm that she had. And I'm like, what happened to Aubrey?

Yeah, I'm not impressed. She's not feeling Genevieve. No. And, but let me say, how about Genevieve? Because she's coming out with a different game plan and a different strategy. And I've seen how she's changed. So she's kind of like what I thought Aubrey would be. You know, so I'm good on her.

Yeah, so far so good for Genevieve. All right. Thank you, Tina, so much everybody. I talked to another person who spent some time in Tennessee. Sam Phelan. You know Sam, right? I do know Sam. Sam joined me after the episode on Wednesday night to check out that podcast.

And then Stephen Fishback, he's off on his book tour right now. And so we didn't get to talk after the episode, but he's going to be back with me on Sunday to talk about everything from this week's Survivor. And so check out a special Sunday Survivor No It All this week. Okay. And what is Stephen's book about? Stephen's book is about a, get this, a fictional reality television show. And without giving too much away that it's about a contestant who was on the fictional reality show ends up going back for an all-star season.

And some drama happens? Oh, so much drama. Really? So you've read it? I read it, yes. Stephen, and Stephen's book has gotten incredible reviews, and he did a really great job. And so we're all very proud of him. Really? What's the name of it? I'm going to write it down. It's called Escape with an exclamation point. It's out right now. It is out right now. But it's all based on fiction. Yeah. It's not a true story. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you for having me. I love you. Yes. Thank you so much. And, yeah, I hope.

we do get to cross paths again soon, Tina. I know. Have me to come do something fun with you. Hey, look. Next time you're, you know, if you're ever in the eastern part of the state, come look me up. Are you all the way eastern? So I'm in Raleigh. You're in Raleigh. Because I go to Charlotte,

some. That's what the church is. Yeah, okay. We'll keep, you got to keep going. A couple more hours. But who knows? Okay. I'll come because I could come like on a Saturday and then drive back to Charlotte for church. Okay. All right. Well, Tina, thank you so much and thank you so much for listening.

And we're looking forward to reading what you have to say in the comments. Take care of a good one. Bye. Love you. Bye.