The Zach Nichols Podcast - All Stars 4 EP. 9 Review! | ZNP EP. 47

Episode Date: May 31, 2024

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey guys, my name is Ryan. You've seen me on seven seasons of the challenge. Please tune in. I'm on Zach Nichols' podcast, and we're about to shoot the shit and talk all things. Welcome back to the Zach Nichols podcast. I'm here with my co-host, Mr. Zach Nichols. And today we have a very special co-host. Yes, we do.

Ryan, Kehoe. Yes, sir. Can I pronounce it? Keo. Key-O. The age is silent. Change the H to a Y. Keyo.

Sound-wise. Like, A-O-O-Kio. A-O-K-O. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Challenge finalist. Challenge All-Star, what, twice now? Congratulations, man. Thank you. O-G-O-G. One of the biggest.

Right? Freshmeet 1. I'm like a geriatric newbie. You're not Freshmeet 2. I'm freshman 1, yeah. Your freshman 1, yeah. And your original partner was Melinda. Melinda.

Her first season also. Yeah. So you look 29. You got to tell us. You got to tell us. What's the secret? What is the secret? Oh, my God.

Like, honestly, get a round of applause for the youth. Honestly, on the couch today. That's very kind. I mean, it doesn't get old. That's for sure. But yeah, I'm 43. I just turned 43. No shit.

Yeah, dude. Age is just a number. For you? I got a Middle Eastern mom and I stopped drinking two years ago. Tomorrow is two years. Congratulations on that. Get around of a ball again. Actually, so that was at, you were sober at Derek's wedding.

I met you a month into my... Not a great wedding to go to a month into your sobriety. So congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Honestly. Because I wasn't sober. that way. It was a Polish wedding. I don't know if you know anything about Polish weddings.

It's spilling over there. Your wife was definitely sober because she was definitely ready to pop. Yeah. I don't even know. That was second kid. That was too. Absolutely. Yeah. That's awesome. Wait, no. Yeah, it was. You're old, man. My house is like an orphanage. Well, that's two years of weddings, parties, went on a challenge. Real, real quick, like, just talk to us about that journey. Like how has it been, you know, and how do you feel now? I mean, I feel the best that I ever have. You look the best, man.

Thank you. I'm very clear. The drama, like, is very, everything is manageable when you're not hung over every day. Yeah. And, like, I wasn't, like, partying, like, we partied in our 20s. Or actually, I was, but, like, every day. And I think COVID just really, like, instilled a loneliness and a sadness in me. where I was like drinking by myself and not showing up to the thing.

And I'm like usually the first person there. And they're like, why does he keep flaking? And, you know. COVID kind of made it like drinking alone. Acceptable. It made it like a hobby. Yeah.

Like it made like everyone's like, I'm just going to drink by myself on the couch. It's great. Because that's what everyone else is doing. Yes. Well, and that's what allowed me to like take it to like leave me to me to take it to like the max level.

And actually I did All-Stars 2, 2021 middle of COVID and I knew that I had like a drinking problem like if I didn't have a drink I was gonna have the shakes I was worried about it but I hid it from production and I filmed the show and quite honestly when I got eliminated I was like so freaked out that I was that close to exposing it on national television that I was like I needed help also in the blood work that I had to do for all stars to found out I'm diabetic oh shit for like two decades most likely type one beating diabetes for two decades not even knowing it not even I had like a diabetic honeymoon is what the endocrinologist said to me that my numbers were just under that point where I could have collapsed or like gone into some sort of whether my blood sugar was high or low so it was a combo of going back on the show finding out I was diabetic handling that and getting sober because it was kind of like a no brainer like I'm not 21 anymore yeah I got to make this this this one work for the next 40 years.

It's working and you're thriving star of AllStars 4, one of. And this episode right here, you got a lot of FaceTime in this episode, man. You were really where the star of this episode. And that's a cool thing about All Stars is how you, in a toast, you mentioned how easy it was

to maintain sobriety on that. It's because I think because the people that are casted on, the OGs, I'm saying, are like real ass people. They're casted for a reason. They're people with depth, depth and layers. and they're able to kind of like grow and adapt where it's not just shown up to like, you know, like just get drunk.

Right. And so like their understanding of that whereas like I think the challenge 10, 15 years ago may not have offered that. They'd be like, oh, I would have been, yeah, I would have been ostracized. Like what happened to Ryan? But now everyone's kind of celebrating that and being like, hell yeah, that's the way it should be. And it's cool to see that.

And I don't know if Leroy was sober on that show or not. He was. Okay, yeah. And Kara also didn't drink. There's a few people that are kind of, that's the trending movement. And I'm all about it because they're, this year I said I'm going to be soberish. Like I'm going to still have a beer with my buddies,

like golfing or basketball, but like it was no more like at home. Like, oh, I'm done with work. Time for a beer. Right. Oh, it's dinner time. Let's have three. Like that was, it was stupid, you know? So I cut that out and I told you I feel great.

Absolutely. I was back. You've been running a lot. And thank you for sharing your story. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that want to make a change and want to feel better about the trajectory of their life. You guys, we've got living proof right here. So thanks so much for sharing that to start.

So listen, we come back to this episode. This episode is a hot mess. It is, right? We've come back from the Cam and Tina trampoline elimination to show you guys having a little pool party. Yes. You're blowing the bubbles, getting your dance on. Avery's playing Veerpong. We were a cam correctly predict the arrival of Kingston's sister.

Yeah, that was like foreseeing the future on another level. It was awesome. Yeah. There's two observations that were just, you know, I have to talk about, okay? Number one, Laurel and Nicole, body to body. This is what people want to know about. What was their dynamic from your perspective in the house at this time? At this time? At this exact time or coming up to this time or it was so, I was so, everyone was so exhausted of the back and forth up and down. Also, to be honest, it wasn't that interesting

to me. They asked me about it in my interviews and I was like, listen, if they're getting along and they're fucking, I'm really happy. And the whole half. house is happy because Laurel's getting off and that means it's peace and quiet you know what I mean yep but anytime there was tumultuous energy between the two of them it was so loud and obnoxious and it was almost like on display like in our faces and we're like bro either fuck or don't fuck we don't care it does seem a little like saw I'll give them like a benefit of the doubt sophomore in high schoolish yes perhaps even eighth ninth grade it's just back and forth like they hook up and Nicole walks in there like 10 seconds later she's like we got to have boundaries like what

yes you're just face deep in her biscuit and now you gotta talk about boundaries oh my gosh let's get the business so i love Nicole honestly when I love them both that's what's so hard I love them both they're both been great people to me horrible for each other exactly horrible that's what's crazy but they're both been great to me and that's my my issue too when I this there's also the Cara and laurel stuff like they're Both my friends, I love them both. I've had issues with them both. We've got, both of us have moved past them. They're both great people.

I don't understand, but it's just so hard to take a side, but it is fun to make fun of. I mean, you guys. Like the humor is part. The humorous part of all this is incredible, but at the base of it, it's like they're real people struggling, trying to figure things out, but it is funny. Yeah, just because I mean, it's funny. The way it started when we got to the airport, I see Laurel, haven't seen her in over a decade. of course she's unpacking her suitcase on the floor because her like luggage was too heavy or some shit.

So she's moving shit around. I haven't seen her in over a decade. I don't know if she's going to remember me. We did fresh meat two together. That was the last time we saw her. I saw her in New York because she lived there briefly a couple of times. But like it had been a solid decade. And obviously I was a ghost in the challenge world.

And so I see her. We kind of like talk and I'm like, oh, she's abrasive. But kind of like feeling me out. We're walking together through security. and she's telling me about her ex I know nothing about Nicole I didn't know Nicole was on this season Also she was already telling you about her

Yeah just like I heard that my ex is gonna be on this And if I see her I don't know what I'm gonna do We get we love to see your face as she's telling you that Like it was probably like I'm like oh okay And then we go around the corner and it's like Rachel Leroy a bunch of them eating in a restaurant In the airport and Nicole comes walking out tattoos I never knew anything about Nicole

And Laurel just looks to me and she goes That's my ex I have to go and kept walking and leaves me alone to meet Nicole for the first time and I'm kind of like oh and like Laurel went to like a magazine stand and was like but like interested how long after you met Nicole did she tell you about Laurel oh right hi Nicole you want to hear about my ex oh that's my ex well I mean the thing is like Nicole's lighthearted at least she has a sense of humor about her shit like she knows

she's a piece of work. Oh, yeah. Whereas, like, Laurel thinks her way is the way it is. Very much so, yeah. Yeah. Nicole's a pimp. She's like, well, which Laurel? I probably, listen.

She's like, I got an engagement ring for every day of the week. I love you, Nicole. I have done a few seasons with Laurel, and I never talk game with her, like, go out. Because I tried one time, and she's like, are you nervous? Are you scared? And I was like, you know what? This was, like, early on. So then I threw her in on.

on what was that free agents and that was a bad decision and I regretted it because then she came after me for like five the next five years but like after that there was like you passed the torch to me yeah there were several there was like several times where I'm like I'm going to say a word about it and I like remember I'm World of Worlds too I'm like on my bed and I'm like sleeping I wake up and Laurel staying there she's like who are you voting for and I was like who do you want me to vote for and I was like whatever you want and I did which is my commitment man. Yeah. I didn't want to rock. I didn't want to rock that boat again. I would, you know. So, she's intense. Well, she's the most intense friend. And Nicole is intense. As intense, just a lot more lighthearted. So it's, you know. Nicole can shift to if you're like, Nicole don't touch that stove. It's hot. She'll be like, oh, tell me why, but she'll put her hand up. Yeah. Whereas like, you know, Laura will take your face and shove it on the stove. Is it hot? Yeah. How hot is it, right? All right.

Well, we also see Cara Maria kind of looks like she's so low in the pool hanging by herself. Can you speak on, you know, what people perceive to be her being completely isolated and people not wanting to hang out with her or be with her?

Yeah, what's the truth? What's your breakdown of Farah? That concludes the free preview of the Zach Nichols podcast. So go to Patreon and subscribe to see the rest of the shit that we talk. Go do it now.