RHAP: We Know Survivor - Will Tony Vlachos Win The Traitors?

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Today, Rob Cesternino, Pooya, and special guest, Shannon Guss, discuss Survivor TWO-TIME winner, Tony Vlachos.

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All Porter fares include beer, wine, and snacks, and free fast-streaming Wi-Fi on planes with no middle seats. And your Tampa Bay vacation includes good times, relaxation, and great Gulf Coast weather. Visit flyporter.com and actually enjoy economy. Hey, everybody. What's going on? Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Sestradino back with you for another one of our Traders pre-season podcasts. Very excited to be back here in the turret with Mr. Traders. Puyo Zivakili. Puyo, how are you? I am doing great, Rob. Happy that we're doing this. This series is going to be so much fun for everybody.

And listen, we're riding a high right now. The season's very close. Yeah. Just on the other side of the holidays and the New Year's and January 9th will be the premiere of Traders Season 3. And today we're gonna be talking about one of the survivor players that, how much excitement is there about this man returning to our televisions uh and here with us to talk about it all is the great shannon gus shannon how are you we're all good yeah i'm great having me i needed this yes yes it's a long sound clip i remember where i was when this sound clip was this was a voicemails at the time was the voicemails but i think n, it was a voicemails with, I think, Nicole. Mm-hmm. Early, early on. It was the premiere of Survivor Kageyan.

Yeah, I guess, yeah. The premiere of Survivor Kageyan in 2014, well over 10 years ago at this point. And I remember where I was driving, listening to you guys talk about that sound clip. That's where we're at with Tony. And that was the first time

Tony was ever on our TVs. Fast forward to through Kageon, stop at Game Changers, through Winners at War. And now here we are, Tony in a castle. Yes, as he should be. The king, right? Coming back to the castle where he should be. Okay. And so here he is. One of the faces of Survivor Mount Rushmore is here on the trailer. Actually, I think two of them are. But all right. So Shannon, first of all, how are you doing today?

I'm great. I'm always happy to talk about Tony. I love Tony so much. Every single time that I talk about Tony, I just, I feel that even more. And yeah, I mean, we did I Stand Kageyan and I just talked for hours about, they were like, please get off the call. I was like, one more thing about Tony, which I think everyone can believe. And so I'm always happy to talk about Tony. For more about us talking about Tony, check out the I Stand Cagayan documentary that we did earlier this fall.

I Stand Cagayan dot com for that. What's your history with Tony? Well, what's interesting is that Cagayan was the season where i started watching the show live proper yeah up until that that summer uh right when kagion was airing is when i reignited my love for survivors are watching the older seasons in between the live episodes and that's also the same time i found rhap so kagion uh survivor pods are the first pods i listened to. Yeah. Yeah. I have a similar story to that. Well, I mean, I was always watching live, but I became a super fan during like was like getting into it during like 26 and 27. And then during Kageyan was when I started full time work. I'm really dating myself.

Like I made the merge or something. Yeah. And that was when like I didn't miss like any Kageyan podcast from there. Like I was all in. So I always feel like I came out of that season as such a super fan. And I have so much to owe, obviously to RJP, but also to Tony for that. So I think we all, especially like the fans that got in during what I feel was kind of a golden era of the late 20s into the early 30s,

with some notable exceptions. But yeah, that kind of golden age, I think a lot of us like millennial fans feel connected to. Okay, so we're here. Tony is going to be on the traders. Shannon is, is Tony a good fit for the traders for both Tony and the traders?

Yes. Yes. I mean, Tony should be on all TV shows. He's been so reclusive to someone who is TV gold and always entertaining. Can I just stop down on that? That is a good point. Uh, Tony is a very interesting reality star that there are times that it is either, it is either Tony season and Tony is omnipresent or it's not Tony season. And we see neither hide nor hair of him.

Yeah. To the point where for me, I have always thought when it's we're off Tony season, I'm like, okay, he's done with us. Like he doesn't want anything to do with TV. Yeah. But then when he reappears, it's like he never left and he gives it his all the energy, the like he gives that same energy like he loves it. Yeah. Shannon, after Winners at War, I did a great interview with Tony, you know, three or four hours after the season was over, like maybe like a week or so after the end of the season.

And that still continues to do, you know, thousands of downloads up on the YouTube channel. And then I got off the call with Tony that day. And then I said, you know what? I think that's it. I think I'll probably never hear from Tony ever again in my life. And a couple of like maybe a week or so, like a few weeks after that,

he sent me a video of him on a jet ski. I said, wow. That's probably the last I'm ever going to see of Tony, ever again. What did he say on the jet ski? He was, woo! Like the person that he beat? Was he also like, Spencer!

But he's back, baby! Twice in 2025, I'm super excited. He's also been announced as being on Australia vs. The Wall. Having the Tony renanaissance which is amazing for tony fans because yeah i mean how will he fit into the trader's castle i don't know how he'll find a ladder um i think that you know he might be like tearing up the set a little bit but all tv shows should put tony on like he's he's i've always said like the best player character for me and like all i've i've watched of like reality tv yeah the unicorn yeah the best okay so shannon how do you think tony's gonna do

at the game of the traitors i don't know i mean i kind of want to come in underestimating tony but would that be foolish um when you say that do you mean his abilities or his, like how he's going to gel with the rest of the cast? I think I, if I was on the traders, I would assume that someone like Tony is a trader. Yeah. Even if he's not, and he might come across as very suspicious.

Yeah. Yeah. I think both of the things are, are potentially not ideal for Tony and he's going to have to rely on his social game like he did in Winners at War to help him make it for a bit. Now, Pouya, famously, Tony is a police officer. And I'm sure in your many seasons of covering traitors around the world, have experienced people in law enforcement on the traders. How has that gone?

Well, off recency, I can tell you not great. The track record has not landed the best. But I do think that also it's not because they're known for their profession. If anything, typically someone that comes in from that background will try and hide their profession because they think it'll look too threatening as in like, oh, I can do detective work

or I'll be sussing people out. So they'll typically try and like bury that. What if Tony tells people that he's not a police officer? What if he just says like, he's a construction worker? Yeah. What do they say?

That people are always stealing your tools. It's rough out there for a construction worker. That's the whole yeah i mean look the the look i have a tattoo i can't be a cop yeah the the profession i think is like the least of tony's worries i think what we what's missing is this is the first time that tony has played anything since being tony the two-time survivor winner right like he comes on kagageyan and he's kind of ridiculous and no one likes he's coming till it happens and then he's won then he goes on game changes and that went how it went then he comes back with winners at war and a lot of what he used to win as a war was like Kageyan was the anomaly I am game changes Tony and that allowed people he you know to to let

down their defenses now we know game changes with the anomaly Tony is a two-time survivor winner a two-time hugely dominant survivor winner across two seasons of a winning game who has been out of the loop once maybe underneath single-handedly playing an idol to take out sandra otherwise completely in the know on everything the anomaly is game changes anyone coming in who's watched any of survivor should know what tony is about and that should be very threatening to them but he's also the player who did that so maybe he can overcome it but yeah he's now playing as Tony the two-time winner and we have not seen that yet we saw Sandra do that in game changes and she was incredibly threatening

so Tony the faithful I feel like could potentially be a little overbearing with his accusations of and I don't know how much he studied this particular show, but Pouya, like I could see a scenario where that Tony is on the hunt for the traitors and maybe rubs people the wrong way. I think that's entirely possible. I also think that immediately my gut instinct is to think, okay, he's going to be looking suspicious

and they're going to, he's going to pay for it. They're going to banish him. But Rob, the other side of that coin. When he's hiding under one of the rugs in the castle and they catch him. Well, depends who they are, Rob. I think that's the big thing because I do think there's another side of the coin

to investigate. When he's put in the suit of armor. Yes, I was going to ask, where is the spy shack and that is brilliant oh my god is this the armor move oh i will pay money i just like the idea that they zoom into the eyes like a scooby-doo cartoon exactly oh my god, yeah. Can we come up with a top five Trader's Castle spice shack spots? I think he's gonna. He's in the moat. Moat shack? He's under

the table at breakfast. That's a good spot. Behind the curtain at breakfast. It's another one. Okay, there's so many good spots. Under a rug, I think that that one, there have to be trap doors in this castle, surely. He's in the trunk of the car going to the mission. Yeah.

If there ever was a secret, one of those secret bookcases that you pull the book, he's going to find it. Ryan Lochte was looking for it, Pouya. Yeah. And let me tell you, it's where Tony is at. Tony's going to find it. Yeah. Maybe he's just in the bookcase. If it's where tony is at tony's gonna find it yeah maybe he's just in the bookcase if it's not there then just like up against the books rob i forgot ryan lochte was on the show so you just said his name so that's the bad scenario for tony the faithful

and then tony the traitor like i think that people could throw him up very early and say like, Hey, I think Tony's one of the traitors. I can't even imagine Tony being a faithful. It just would be so different to the way that he's played survivor. Um, you know, he's always got like a plan. Yeah. And then I think people would just accuse him of being a traitor anyway, just out of just like innate suspiciousness. Well, what I wanted to ask you, Shannon, is that we were thinking about this and we will be having discussions throughout these profiles that we do. But a lot of the conversation about,

okay, if there is a survivor cast member that is a traitor, who would it be? And I think a lot of us have landed on two names. It's either Tony or it's Rob. Now, who do you think of the two is more likely to be in that spot i think that they should make a tony from an entertainment perspective i just think i mean again we're seeing like he could spy on people like he's gonna be fun i think

regardless but like i think that he would be a really fun trader and i think again if people are gonna think he's a trader anyway like just like let's see him try to get away with it uh but rob is like i think a bigger name and a bigger name for casuals for people who kind of half know about survivor so i don't know you you're the trader expert what would they lean towards i feel like off name recognition it'll be rob yeah and i think because here's my thing i think tony is someone who is to what rob has said he's gonna have so much energy he's gonna be doing a lot and i think. He's going to have so much energy. He's going to be doing a lot. And I think that he's going to have that traitor suspicion on him regardless.

And quite frankly, I think that if you close your eyes and you picture a banishment where Tony gets up and has to reveal he's a faithful versus Rob getting up and saying he's a faithful, you get the more entertaining exit

from Tony nine times out of 10 in that situation. So I think, and also, I think that tony kind of looking suspicious might have better odds of being kept in because the traders are like well they all think it's him he's gonna go out anyway and i think that that he'll have more longevity there yeah and he probably will be able to talk himself out of going immediately and he's like how did you do that tony way so i think that makes sense i mean is it kind of concerning that the players can talk through the matter of this so probably

accurately it's like there's probably gonna be one survivor player who would they do and probably right that's the thing this is season three only so i feel like we are one more season away from there being a clear meta ruins the game and by that i don't don't mean ruins it, but like people will gamify it. So if they do go with a survivor again this season, I feel bad for whoever's on season four from Survivor because you're getting picked off. Well, do you think that they will do a survivor and a Big Brother person again, Pouya?

Well, the way that worked out last time, Rob, is they actually didn't go survivor, right? They went Big Brother and then they recruited parv as their okay so i think it's going to be certainly a one of the six cbs reality people will be a trainer i co-signed that i would assume that's already a lot to like zero in on knowing that it would be kind of like they this is why they should be picking it randomly but then so much of the show relies on like the entertainment that people will bring so now we can start thinking through

production that's what i would be doing is that what like real housewives are doing i don't know about the real housewives enough to know that if i was there i would be trying to get into production's head but that might not be the people that they cast well it's it's all about picking people who you think could carry the load of being a trader providing some strategic insight and then playing it methodically and i feel like because the c CBS shows have more of a proven quantity in that area of expertise, the strategy side, which is why you see someone like a Dan

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View important disclosures at acorns.com slash robpod. Shannon, let's go back to Tony's survivor seasons. Can you think of any particular moments from Tony's Survivor Seasons that you feel like you could imagine would have been good prep for the traitors? Well, as I was saying, the spy shack. Yeah. That'll be very good. He will definitely be spying.

Yeah. And what could we put in the bag of tricks in the traders? Like a breakfast scone or something? Like what could really help him? I guess the shield might be the closest that he could get to a bag of tricks. Yeah. He needs more. He needs more trinkets than that.

I mean, he's also good at like bluffing trinkets, using that kind of stuff. So I think that could be pretty good from a shield perspective. And then in terms of like his actual game of what has helped him, what do you think, Kuya? Well, I think one of the best things that Tony has is I think he's very disarming. I think that while, you know, having strategy is one thing, but then being the character he is, but being able to be disarming goes a long way. And I think he's going to be disarming to a lot of new people he meets out the gate here. Yeah. I've always said about Tony, like he's endearing and he has like a softness that people like, you know, he has jurors laughing at winners

of war. He convinces Wu to take him like tony has some pretty good mind control powers that are socially based and people like him and people have fun with him like genuinely when i'm sad i watch the latter scene from winners at war it's so good watching all these icons all these winners just dying laughing at tony's ridiculousness i think people will have fun with him in the mansion so i think that and he learned a lot of being that person at winners at war so i think that that would be very good for him for a social perspective people might just be like just get a kick out of him i want to keep him around because they're having fun with him and i think that that is important and we think about that less than like the razzle dazzle of like the

tony game and how do you think that like these random housewives and bob harper and all these strangers are going to react to Tony goofing off in the Scottish castle. I think he's going to, weirdly enough, I think he's going to provide laughs, Rob. I think he's, yeah. When he's in the suit of armor, he probably will, yeah. In a stressful environment like this, you need somebody who can laugh. And I feel like in a very high stressful situation, even the funniest person can seem a lot more reserved and nervous whereas Tony's been through some of the most stressful stuff on the show and has been able to laugh I think also not for nothing but winning three million dollars will give you a I'm playing with house money energy that I think Tony's gonna bring which I

think will help him finally that is true I mean he what is like one of the most winningest in money reality tv contestants people might be bitter about that but i think as well it's like they're all playing with a degree of house money and being like they're mostly there for like the platform right they're all reality stars these aren't like civilians who are like as much relying on the money so you want to have fun and tony definitely brings that fun even his opponents have always like liked and respected more that's why i can't say always but like if you think about a dynamic with like a spencer even like the kind of like frenemy or like opponent relationship can be really positive so yeah i think people will really like him and want to be around him and that might save his innate

suspiciousness um yeah so i think that that is really good because the other stuff that he does i think is a lot harder to do on the traders, you know, like these pinpoint precision votes or flipping and, you know, stuff like, I think that that's not as much the traders game and that's a lot of his strategic bread and butter. So I think he's going to have to rely on his likability and then try and push points with that. Let's talk about Tony's relationships

with some of these other players that are coming back. Now, we have never seen tony and boston rob on the same beach together on survivor uh that rob votes for tony in the winners at war finale but we've never seen interaction between tony and boston rob before how do you think that that's gonna go shannon it's crazy they were never on the same tribe and then Boston Rob's at the edge the whole time. Tony obviously never goes to the edge. I do remember when Boston Rob voted for Tony

and he said that he had asked Natalie to do everything right, but like, you didn't. I can't do it. You didn't take out this guy and voted for Tony. So I think there's probably a pretty healthy mutual respect. So I'm interested to see how that goes. don't i don't think that i think that they both have enough that i doubt they're

like jealous or defensive against each other like i think they respect each other yeah i don't know that's interesting well i just don't know i mean like i think back to young boston rob and again i know for me i'm not the same person I was on Survivor All-Stars. So I shouldn't make any assumptions. But I feel like that Rob really wanted to, hey, Ethan thinks he's the golden boy. Colby, he thinks he's this. Like, I think that Rob really wanted to take down the other big dogs,

like in terms of like, uh, beat them in the competitions and then also be, uh, you know, sort of like, uh, the, the last guy standing from like all of these, like,

uh, survivor greats that they were bringing back. So I'm wondering if there could be some, some competitiveness between Rob and, and Tony. And also from Tony's perspective, that I feel like that, like, look back, like Tony wanted to get rid of, you know, LJ and, you know,

like Tony and Cliff Robinson. And, you know, Tony is also not above, like, taking out some of these other guys who might be standing in his way for seemingly no reason. True. But I think Tony will appreciate that Rob, you know, Rob's only jury vote ever in all his many times playing Survivor was for Tony. And I think that like Rob's mark of respect and even what he said about Tony shows, I mean, yeah, there might be like some,

like they're both showmen. So like that level of competitiveness, sure. But I think like on actual feelings, I'm sure they actually like and respect each other. Yeah, I do think in my heart of hearts, I think that they will get along. I think that, you know, Traders is not necessarily like the cutthroat, like only one person can win nature of Survivor.

I need to take out the big threats. So I do see a world in which Rob and Tony get along pretty well. Yeah, I think especially at the beginning, it's the whole safety with numbers. I think coming into an unknown territory, finding out immediately, though, there's like five housewives here. The Bravo Labs could band together. I think, you know, Shannon brought up earlier these intricate voting blocks or like, you know, just maneuvers to get numbers. I think as much as traders isn't that game, I think there's trends moving towards that direction anyway.

And I think early on realizing that in a sea of 20 people, the people I know are probably my the best people I can keep right now until I assess the rest of this group. So could a civil war break out later, Rob? And they turn against each other, definitely. But at the beginning, I'm with you. I think they'll pair off nicely. Okay, Shannon, yesterday, Puya and I talked about Jeremy

and how Jeremy might be feeling about Tony. And obviously they have a lot of history together from winners at war. But aside from arguing about how many days there are in the week, that how do you think that Tony is going to get along with Jeremy? I mean, it's the best. Like Jeremy and Tony for me are two like top five U.S.

survivor players. Like I've said, the traders at this point, present company excluded, has cast like my top five, like Mount Rushmore U.S. survivor players. It's like three poverty Sandra, Tony, US survival players. It's ridiculous. Like three, Poverty Sandra, Tony Jeremy. I think that's it. And when Tony and Jeremy,

who I think were my, like pretty much my top two, what was it? Poverty Sandra, going on to Winners of War and them teaming up was a dream. And to see that again is incredible. Like they have such a fun dynamic.

But it didn't end well. Yeah. I mean, Tony helped Jeremy a lot. He was always looking out for Jeremy. They weren't in the same space. And Jeremy was the underdog. Tony was a lot of the time the overdog.

They worked together on that incredible plurality vote blind side. One of my favorite votes of all time. My highlight probably of Winners at War when Sophie goes home. So they worked together well. It was a relationship of comfort and and convenience numbers and comfort whatever Tony says about that numbers and comfort right yeah yes um but I think they have a real friendship I think they really like each other I think the relationship went as you know as far as it was going to go in a positive way you know Jeremy voting for Natalie

is nothing against Tony he always joked that like Jeremy had, he was connected to Tony, Natalie and Michelle. Like he, if he could have voted for all three, that would have been the best for him. So I think that they will have like a very positive relationship. But do you think that Jeremy can trust Tony again? Yeah. Why not? I mean that I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I feel like that. I mean, didn't Tony blindside Jeremy at the end of Winners at War?

I felt like Jeremy was on borrowed time as an underdog and Tony gave him more time. And then like his time came to an end. But then pulled the rug out from under him. Well, they can't all win. You know, like Jeremy was a huge threat. It was again, like a mark of respect. Yeah.

And they worked together really well to get there. Well, they can't all win. You know, like Jeremy was a huge threat. It was, again, like a mark of respect. Yeah. And they worked together really well to get there. And it was always like a kind of like you take care of me, I'll take care of you kind of without being like super locked in. They wouldn't have like a final two deal or anything like that. So I felt like it was always really positive. And I don't think that there was any bad blood there. But, you know, Tony is the one as well who crafted or at least gave voice to what

we still talk about like the lions and the hyenas yes so if he's gonna be doing some of that then you want to go to these big dog CBS players and and align with them I think that that Jeremy will be a very friendly face for Tony to see after coming out of his hibernation. Okay. Let's talk about Tony and Carolyn, because I actually think I could see this not being such a great relationship between Tony and Carolyn. I think that Carolyn is best around people who are good listeners. And I do not think that that is what Tony is. I think Tony is a great talker. And I think that I feel like this energy is not a good match. Shannon,

what do you think of that? But then doesn't Carolyn like, like Russell? Hmm. And then he was, I think that she, I think that she enjoys Russellsell's company i think she could talk to russell on the phone but being stuck in the car yeah being on the show with russell i don't

think that that would go great yeah i mean it doesn't feel like they would get along like i could i can imagine the confessionals of carolyn just like screaming about how toady's driving her crazy but then could you also is this too much to to hope for could you could you hope for like a jam jam carolyn star relationship of like we fight but we love each other two big personalities could we see that or is he just gonna drive her like up the mansion wall i don't know i think uh puya could go either way it really is kind of like a coin toss situation see i though i feel like they're going to be fine i feel like especially you know having you know shannon citing the the podcast guest over there

i do feel like she's going to be fine dishing it out with tony as long as their banter remains banter and doesn't end up being either misunderstood insult or anything like that. I do think this is actually a very good low key pair that could do something in the game. Yeah. We'll have to see. I mean, there is a world where it could go well. I just feel like that so much of Carolyn's story in survivor 44 was about that. The players weren't hearing her out. She wasn't feeling understood. And I just don't think that that's Tony's strong hearing her out. She wasn't feeling understood. And I just don't think that that's Tony's strong suit. Yeah.

What it's exciting to me because while this isn't the podcast where we're going to discuss Carolyn, I feel like that was her first time on a show. Now, second time being on TV, having learned a lot of things the first time around, what looks different? I'm very curious to find out. Okay. Now, Tony, I don't believe is a big brother guy uh so i don't know if he's gonna have uh has any interaction with daniel reyes or britney haynes but puya um would be very excited to hear britney talk about tony i think both Danielle and Brittany are

going to have some very fun confessionals talking about Tony's hijinks and I cannot wait for it. Yeah. Shannon. He won't know any of these people, right? I don't think so. He doesn't watch any. Tony was like, oh my God, it's Bob the Drag Queen. I don't think he's going to

know anyone other than the will he know Carolyn? Is he still watching? We don't even know that part. I think he'll know Carolyn. I think he's going to know anyone other than the, will he know Carolyn? Is he still watching? We don't even know that part. I think he'll know Carolyn. I think he probably follows what's going on in Survivor. I think he watches Survivor. Yeah, just Survivor.

Do we think, Rob, because, you know, we talked to Sandra on a deeper level about her season. Do we think he's gotten some notes, some pointers from Sandra? I think he may have. I just don't know how much does Tony take notes from others. That's fair. He did from his wife.

His wife, he said, was the one who told him to like use game changes and go on to cover. I mean, I mean, he's not married to Sandra. If Sandra's kid. Like his work wife. Yeah. Well, I guess it was Sarah as well. But Sandra, like if Sandrara gave him notes like they should they should have you know recorded that and released it later as a podcast because that

sounds like really good content yeah um yeah still a fun dynamic uh sandra and tony so shannon what do you think do you think they make tony a traitor or no i don't know i mean yeah puya thinks it's rob i'm i'm happy to, I think I probably was leaning Rob anyway, if it's going to be between the two of them. But now I'm actually kind of interested in the idea of Faithful Tony in the Mochak. It's so many other places, like in the pipes, in the vents. You know, there's so many places. He's going to tear that mansion apart. So, yeah, I'm excited about that.

How far do you think Tony goes? I don't know. I don't want to be disappointed. I feel like I'm, I'm, I'm not giving him credit. Cause I think, how can he do it again? Cause then he does. We're due for like every, every other Tony time is bad. So I think we're due for, this is might be the bad Tony time.

And then Australia versus the world, which filmed first. Do we know? This film, this film world, which filmed first. Do we know this film, this film first, this film first, the bad Tony. And then when that us versus or Australia versus the world might be, Tony might win again.

Well, I mean, from your lipstick to God's ears, I feel like, yes, I was going to ask, where do you think he goes further in his two 2025 appearances? And I would put more money on survivor, right?'s a survivor player i think that's his game yeah so

i think that there's more he can control for what he wants to do in australian survivor i guess my question is what does a bad mean because it's a total of we so last season not counting the reunion rob total of 11 episodes how many many episodes would Tony have to make it for it to be like counting under? Because I think if he makes it to like episode three or four, I think that's a successful run. Well, I'll say this about Tony. Pouya, the traitors would be idiots to murder Tony.

Oh, 100%. You let him get banished. Yes. But he will get banished. How long can he go without getting banished? But people will like him. That's the thing. Like Rob,

I think there's a world where Tony provides the CT comedic level value in the, in the castle, uh, where he's just, again, disarming everybody and he's going to be okay. And then the traders are like, well,

he's just not getting banished. We got to get him out. I just feel like that he's could be fun, but i feel like that once it always boomerangs back when the person that's like like i i saw something very suspicious it was this person and then it always is like oh i think that's very suspicious that you think that that's suspicious i'm voting for tony tonight he could listen i think at the end of the day tony is going to dictate where tony very suspicious that you think that that's suspicious. I'm voting for Tony tonight. He could, listen, I think at the end of the day,

Tony is going to dictate where Tony goes. And I think if he does a lot of that, I do think it could come back to haunt him. But if he gives us the chill winners at war kind of quiet initials, I think he can make a deep run here. We'll see if he can keep it going. A quiet start to the game. What is the Scottish Highland llama?

Like the Highland cows? They have a lot of horses. They have horses? Nay. He's just walking around going, nay. Do you think? Yeah. Is that a traitor?

Nay. Yeah, exactly. Shannon, how do we think that tony will get along with alan coming i think that i think i don't know i don't see that as a match made in heaven i feel like that's not not a pairing i would have put together so i feel like he won't want to make of tony when tony is and i also think as well tony on the back foot in a banishment thinking about talking llama and stuff could really come out firing with some stuff so that might be fun as well so I think he'll be Alan Cumming

be amused surely by Tony I don't know he might also just from a distance though want to be amused by him okay what do you think I think that they're going to be comedy gold together Tony's always comedy gold yeah I think that that's a good pairing to have with Tony. Shannon, is there anything else that's on your mind about Tony playing on The Traitor season three? No, I'm excited. I'm excited that we're in the Tony-naissance. Yeah, he's the best. Go watch the latter scene right now after we record this.'m telling you it's it's genuinely one of the funniest scenes in survivor history it's so good he's such good tv i can't wait to see how he turns up the castle okay all right puya any other thoughts on tony no i am first of all very happy uh second of I will, I want to share a little story, Rob.

Right as this casket's dropped, I do get a message from one Shannon who says, I cannot believe you're going to get to interview Tony. And Shannon, guess who's going to get to interview Tony at some point this season? Well, I manifested. And then so do you, though. So do you, though. No, you, exactly. Then exactly.

I sent that to you. And then the Survivor gods must have been like well look at you happy for a friend maybe you should get to interview tony too and let's throw in surrey and poverty as well yeah i'm feeling good about it yeah look at my own trade is being happening yeah we're overdue for tony because we first saw tony on survivor kagian in 2014 then he comes back in survivor game Game Changers which I believe is 2017 then he comes back for Winners at War in 2020 so this has been the longest stretch we've ever had

damn that's wild when you put it like that Rob of no Tony it'll be almost 5 years since we had Tony so we were overdue for 2 Tonys and where else can we see him now that he's back accepting television contracts twice in the span of a couple of years?

Can Tony cook? Hmm. Can he, I mean, he can cook, but can he cook? Because, you know, I feel like worst cooks in America does bring some like reality TV people over. That could be a shout out. What about like, you know,

if he does go on to kind of win and he becomes like even kind of Boston Rob level, like transcending the medium, could we him like in a as a mass singer puya can you would you be able to identify the voice i think i could identify the voice yeah i think i could identify it yeah i think that i could do he could do also depending on how he performs this season you know he is on the show with a Dondi alum. I could see, could Dondi be next? I think Dondi could be, he could be on the short list for Dondi.

Dondi? I mean, dancing with the stars. That's the circuit. Yeah, that's so funny. Put him on it all. I used to say this about Serena, now they're actually doing it. Put her on everything. Why not? All right, so Pouye, anything else for you about tony

nope i think that's about everything we've covered here yeah well uh we tomorrow are going to get back together uh for a uh christmas eve chat about britney haynes who we last saw in reindeer games so uh the synergy is there. And so we will talk about Brittany Haynes and then the rest of the way on the Traders previews. Pouya will have them in our Traders podcast feed. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss any of our previews

when we get to the Housewives and everybody else at weknowtraders.com. Shannon, what exciting things do you have coming up? Well, you know me. You know, Australian Survivor's coming up at a point. So unfortunately, these two seasons are always at a similar time, which is not great for me as wanting to watch the traitors. But we're going to get to it.

There's going to be two seasons in 2025, as we said, the world season, Brains vs. Brawn, you know, just wrapped up. U.S. Survivor, there's always a lot of survivor that's that's what i'm doing at shannon gates follow me for it all okay and then puyo what else is coming up for you um i will be talking a lot of traders uh not just the u.s but of course uk premieres january 1st with season three so myself and Annabelle will be talking about that. So I'm going to be buried in all the traders goodness and trying to watch Australian survivor at the same time.

So I'm going to be juggling it all. Rob, it's going to be great. And of course the hot mess express waits for no one. So 90 day fiance will be happening as well. We got a busy 2025 for everybody. So January 1st is crazy. They're like no holiday for you. Wake up early. We got 1st is crazy. They're like, no holiday for you.

Wake up early. Wake up. We got it. Every show is back. It's crazy 2025, everybody. Okay. January 1st in the UK is like early January 1st for you. They're like, I don't care what you did on New Year's.

Get up, start covering the show. You know, podcasting doesn't take a vacation. Let's go. Tony says there's no weekends in podcasting. Okay. All right. Thank you so much for joining us for our Tony preview.

We'll be back to talk about Brittany Haynes tomorrow. Thank you. Take care. Have a good one. Bye.