The Zach Nichols Podcast - Battle For a New Champion EP. 8 Review w/ Corey Lay | ZNP EP. 20

Episode Date: December 9, 2023

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Hey, this is Corey Lay. I'm on the Zach Nichols podcast this week, and I'm answering every single question that you want to know the answers to. So tune in. Welcome back to the Zach Nichols podcast. I'm here with my co-host, Mr. Zach Nichols. It's good to be here. It's beautiful day. It is.

But more importantly. No snow in December. But we do have a very, very special guest in the house, challenge contestant twice. Oh. Mr. Corey Lay. Hey, hey, what's up? Good to see you. Great to be here.

the flat top villain of 39 so far I chopped it off as soon as I got home I was like that's too much my hair's a mess so many episodes I'm like okay I learned the hard way I just started to shave it before I went yeah then you run into the problem of if there's no barber on the show then it just looks unkempt yeah

it looked unkempt anyway so what are I supposed to do yeah if there's no uh you know if there's no if there's no somebody that has the clippers you know he's in trouble was there a hair clipper on this there was none but they did bring someone to cut our hair once during the season. Other than that, it's like,

I remember I started with braids in episode one and two. Those got so nappy. It was like, can some braid my hair, but he's like, I can braid hair, but I was like,

you do exactly how I had it before. She's like, no. I was like, well, let me just keep my hair out. You'd end up now they're looking like Derek Henry. I know.

Just wanting to run, one braid coming out. Someone said it looked like the trolls doll or something or my hair's just going straight up all the time. That is a good analogy. You know, whatever.

I think it's like, you know, it's just an old school look, man. It looks like you're in the movie, Juice, but it looks good. I'll take it. Yeah. So let's get down to the brass taxi.

Come on with it. You're not our typical challenger. No. Even in today's day and age with most of the new people coming from CBS. Yeah. Can you remind everybody what show you came from? So I came from an extremely popular show. It's not popular at all.

I'm from 12 dates of Christmas on HBO Max, which is no longer on HBO Max, which is now called Max because it got pulled down. So it doesn't even exist anymore. But it was like a Christmas themed dating show. Yeah. And so did you reach out to people from the challenge or did they find you from that show? No. So there's a guy who's now my manager that reached out to me on Instagram and was like,

hey, have you ever thought about being on the challenge? And I was like, yeah, but I never thought it was a reality. Yeah. And then he got me in touch with casting people. And, you know, that's when spies, eyes and allies happened. And it really came out of nowhere. Like the first show was also on Instagram DM. And it was like five days before they flew out to.

Where were we somewhere in Germany? Oh, Austria to film that. And then I get done with that. And then it's airing. And then halfway while it's airing, it's like, oh, do you want to do the challenge? And I'm like, what is happening right now? I never expect. Like, I work in video games.

I'm like, you know. That's a, that's a, that's an, that is the most unique story ever. Yeah. Yeah. Did you have any social media following before? I definitely was an Insta thought. Is the bad? An Insta gay.

Yeah. I definitely would post like selfies and thirst traps and stuff a lot more than I do now. So I wouldn't say I had a following, but I did have a, I don't know, a couple thousand followers or something. You must have just tore shit up on 12 dates of Christmas in order to get on the challenge. Were you the, were you the, like, the shit started? Were you the pim? Well, okay, I was brought into date a guy and I was the first person to show up. And it's like The Bachelor.

Well, actually, it's not the Bachelor, but people keep showing up throughout the season for him to date. And he's eventually get rid of people. I was the first one to show up and I was like falling in love. And then someone else shows up and he starts giving them attention. and I'm an emotional person have you seen on the challenge and I kind of had a really slow meltdown I definitely was crying at ugly sweater ugly Christmas sweater parties there's not a more appropriate time to cry yeah but it was like honestly it was bad crying I was like on the floor in the fetal position it was not great oh so you're not like Meg Ryan who looks like perfect

like that's one perfect year oh yeah yeah no you know something about not like yeah yeah and I I don't know, but something about me making a mess of myself on that dating show that no one saw except for baby one person who happened to get me on the challenge. Like that somehow opened the door for me. If they probably saw those clips and they were like, hell yeah. Some competition. Josh. I may cry more than him. I'll take that mental.

Not yet on the challenge. I have cried this season. Okay, Michelle made me cry. I cried talking to Michelle once. We did see that. So far. Yeah. Well, no, I cried during the big team, Melissa, deliberation at the end.

You see a little clip of it. Yeah. I don't know, my mess. Crying is as healthy, man. It is. Better out than in, I always say. Okay. Yeah.

Did you watch a challenge? I did. You were? Yeah. So I grew up watching it in high school, like Anisa, Coral, Veronica. Oh my. All those people. Like the golden year.

Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. And then I fell off for a little bit. In the golden years. Yeah. So the first one you watched was probably like early, like, fricking. Those were inferno.

I don't remember the names. Yeah. It was those. And I remember there was the challenge where I was like, they had to melt ice with their bodies. Yeah. Like what season was that? I think they did that on melt ice.

I think that was an inferno. Okay. That was back when they did like more like carny games. Yeah. Super intense. Now it's yeah. So you watch the challenge and then how crazy is it like when you watch it right? And then you get into the house for the first time or even into the elimination round and you meet

T.J. And you're like, oh my gosh. I'm on the other end. Yeah. It's way different than what you expect. It's so different. It's so much harder. Like I watch myself back even on this season and I'm like,

Corey, why did you do this? But everything in that moment is just like, you know, something happens. You feel like, I have to make a decision right now. Otherwise, I'm going to go home. And it's like for me, the weight of going home means I just took two months off of my job. You know, they gave me this time off. I don't want to ruin it. Like I'm making less money being here than I would being at home.

So it's like I need to extend this as far as possible. So it's worth it. And all of that weight is on top of me. And also there are not a lot of game in on this show who are like physical competitors the way that I think that I am. And it's like I want to. do well for my community to show that like I can go pull wrestle somebody I can haul bro I'm a big guy yeah and like I have so much weight that every single moment on the show feels bigger for me because if I lose it I honestly don't know when I'd be able to come back because that's good point I can't take two months

off of work every year right I did it two years ago for season 37 I did it now I don't know when it can happen again because work is busy like I have been a game developer for 10 years like I can't you're like in the game like you're in the paint yeah yeah yeah and so this like being on the challenge is like it's do or die at every single moment oh 100% yeah no that understanding from your you know your employer i mean it's cool once it's cool twice you know but when you're relied upon for anyone to leave a job that you relied upon for two months like people it's obviously an incredible opportunity yeah it's obviously something you can't do anywhere else something you're probably like give me the next one but you have to make the most of your time yeah and that's

probably why you played, and you've talked about this a little bit, you played for right now. You're not playing for future seasons. Because I don't know if I will come back. You know, if I have to burn a bridge, I'll do it because maybe I won't be on season 40 or 41 or 42. So who cares if they're mad at me? Who knows if they're like, yeah, it might just turn into the USA one. Exactly.

And I'm not on that. And they didn't even call me for USA because like, why would they? I'm a random guy who's been on two seasons. There's a lot of options nowadays, too. Yeah. So Corey lays at the very bottom. So I'm like, if I had not the very bottom, but I'm not. I'm not like Zach level.

Well, I'm not being called either, brother. Oh, well, they should be calling you. I agree. They should, but they, well, you know, there was a little bit of falling out between me and production and all that. But that's neither here nor there. But working at it. You know what this season? You know what this season reminds me of I was thinking today when I was brushing my teeth?

We've all seen heavyweights, right? The movie. Yeah. Several times. That's a fucking awesome movie. So you know when like Tony Perkis gets locked up and they have that huge party and all those guys just start eating all that junk food again. Yeah.

That's what this cast is doing. They're there and you guys are just indulging. Yeah. Ridiculously because there's like, like spies lies and allies was a little bit too much like I'm a vet and we're going to do what the vets want. Yes. But when there's vets there, there seems to be a little bit more law and order where it's almost like the kids were left downstairs at the party and the adults. And we're just doing whatever we're in the adults. And the adults are all drunk at the bonfire.

But the kids are in the basement just hammered acting like fools. That's what this season is. I think we have alliances, but we don't really have alliances, and then we're backstabbing everyone, and we're telling. It's a mess. But I also think that's why it's exciting to me, at least. Well, it's messy for sure, because there's a lot, there's a power struggle.

And right now there's a very clear, it's very obvious who has the power. A shell and J. And it's a nucleus. And they've literally put themselves in the middle of it. And my thing with you is you just said that they're your number ones. But I'm not there. Yes. So that's where I'm like, in my head,

I'm like, okay, like, I understand all the extra games. But I think that so many people are bringing information back to them that anyone they have so many they but like if people realize that and they're like I'm not even in there you got to be in someone's top two. Yeah. You know and if you're not in their top too they don't. I will say Michelle's really good at like I am close with her. You know, even outside of the show. Like we're close. But she has a ability to make everyone feel close to her. Yeah. So like every. Everybody thinks that they're in her one, two, or three. But how can 12, 13, 14 people all be there? It doesn't take a calculator to that math. Right. And I realized this, but the problem was, like, when I look back, some of us on the outside, me, Raven, Colleen, Berna, Kylan, should have become our own unit because we were, like,

at the bottom of the main unit, just basically working for them, like worker bees. Yeah. It's like a mafia family. But it's hard. Because in the moment, you're just like, if I do this, it's such a big risk. because everyone's going to turn on me because everyone's playing like isn't going to have a back all those other people so when you do that when you're like to the if you have three or four or five people that are on the outsides and you say to all of them like hey we need to do this this

and this one of those people it's going to go back and it's going to rat and then yes because they don't want it to go around they're they're basically making it safe for if it doesn't go right right and so if you're the one person that goes in gung ho and everyone else yeah hey by the way he wants to do this and they're waiting to see what happens yep so this and i already had a target on me from the beginning. I tried to say Zara's name really early because I identified her as a very strong competitor and only one person can win and she runs a marathons, but then everyone was mad at me that I put out Zara's name. I'm like, I have a theory about Zara. What's that's theory? I don't think Wes retired. I think she's a robot and West is controlling her. West is controlling

her from his living room every week. Oh my God. It was then a thing. I think that the- I think she called him during the season. I think USA-2 was the robot's trial run and West had to be there to make sure the programming went right. And he's like, oh, yeah, we're tired. He's controlling her from his house. He does everything like Wes would do. Except she's not, I feel like Wes is really good at like being a like social person, political person, like hands in every pot.

I don't think Zara has that. She's just genuinely very nice. That's just what Wes is doing right now on the controls. She's literally, she's a, she's a, she's a robot. Maybe. She's probably not, but it's just funny. I was like, dude, there's just too many West vibes coming off from her right now. Yeah.

Just the adoration from both sides, you know, Wes speaks so highly of her and she seeks so highly of West. Obviously, they, you know, accomplished a lot together. No, they didn't. Well, she's like, she's like, oh, Wes is the greatest partner ever. And if you watch that season, you're like, the greatest partner who ultimately got you eliminated from a dumb decision. You said it. I've never met Wes, but I like him. No, I'm not talking shit about him.

I'm just saying, is you the best partner ever if he got you eliminated? Hey, there you go. There you go. Good question. So we're going to get into the notes Let's get into the notes Yeah, let's get into the episode that we watch Yeah, I know instead of me just talking

So I talk a lot You have to stop me sometimes No, I side, I side Come on man, that's what the show's for Yeah Okay, so we come back to the house After the Devin and Cal elimination Now, you did a season with Devin

What's your relationship with him? You're just cool with him? Yeah, we're cool. I wouldn't say we're friends We don't text or anything But like we're friendly And I consider, I think I'm more of a friend to him Than an enemy

But like, we don't talk Oh, he could have taken you And he didn't. I know. I actually, I told him because I knew everyone was saying my name. And I think it's a little unclear what I was trying to do in my nomination. But I wasn't trying to get people not to say my name.

You were trying to show your alliance. I was trying to show my alliance. And so like, even in that moment when Devin is like, Mariah says choose Corey, Batese says choose Corey, I'm like, hey, Devin just choose me. Because I'm not afraid to compete. I'm not seeing something.

I saw boxes. I'm like, I can carry boxes. Yeah. Like, this is fine. I didn't know that was counting, but either way. But yeah, I told Devin to choose me. and like I would kind of wish I don't know wish he did actually because getting rid of Calum would have been hard yeah like I wanted to say Calum's name earlier but he's next to Michelle

and they're hooking up right if I say Calum she's going to be mad at me like she was when I set a soft so I was like I can't do anything in this house that's true it would have been very hard to get out Callum and how was your what do you think about Calum as a competitor as a person like what did you what was your opinion on him I think he's he's hilarious as a person like I don't know if it shows but that guy is just always making jokes like all day every day. I had no idea he had a relationship outside of Michelle until I watched the season. Michelle didn't know either.

She had to find out before she watched it though. No. No. She didn't find out until she watched it? No. No. I remember texting her when that was airing and we were both freaking out because we did not know. And like how many weeks were they in the house together like going on dates and doing all

these lovely things and Michelle had no idea that he had a girlfriend at home. And it's crazy. Yeah, that's wild. Yeah, I think we had a, obviously, they weren't together after the show. So like, you know, maybe there was some, you know, some stuff there. But I will say when he got eliminated, I think Michelle's sister was running her Instagram. And I think she noticed like Callum was like posting on a story, something going on a date with some other girl. And so Michelle's sister told Michelle that because they FaceTime weekly in the house.

So Michelle moved on while she was in the house She was definitely disappointed in like Why's Calum already going on dates? He just left here two minutes ago So like she was over it by the time You know, season was over But to find out that he was having a girlfriend The entire time that was a surprise

Well I mean he also lived across a pretty big body of water Called the Atlantic Ocean That's correct How was that ever going to? I mean yeah He's with her heart sometimes I mean the guy the guy was pimping from second one Of walking in the house

You think he's not going to go back home And start pimping right away So he's an attractive guy with a lot of charisma. So like, I feel like, what is his tattoo on his forehead. I don't know,

but it's red. Yeah, I don't know what it's noticing. I think it's another language. How fine. One of his, the Chinese, it means,

uh, takeout or something. Really? Yeah. The one under his eye? Yeah. Oh, it means like something takeout or.

I guess he loves Uber Eats. So knowing, so knowing that, uh, obviously he had a girlfriend at home, um, literally telling her I love you in his first call. Um,

do you think him starting this relationship with Michelle was, gameplay? or was it genuine at all? No, I don't think it was gameplay. I think I don't think he is that manipulative. I think he was clearly very attracted to Michelle. She's a beautiful woman. Oh, that I have no doubt.

And I think that they had a lot of chemistry. And because he was in the game, he just let himself go for it. Yeah. You know, but I don't think that, I think eventually he realized, oh, being connected to Michelle does. It helps.

Grant me some safety. But on night one in that arena where we're just playing, like, spin the bottle and getting drunk, I don't think that was his intention. They just naturally were drawn. to each other and actually it started in the hotel before we moved to the house anyway for being very honest. I think they were roommates next to each other. It always does. Right. So it's like,

start on the airplane or the hotel. Yeah. I think there was just like, you're hot, I'm hot. Let's see what happens. Yeah. No, for sure. And, uh, uh, yeah, he probably used that justification. He went home to his girlfriend like, babe, I was just playing the game. Yeah. I don't, I don't think that's what he was doing. No, I don't, I don't think so either. I mean, I was just curious. I wanted to know your opinion from the ground. Okay. Um, so, athletically, since you have done a C. season with Devin. Who would you compare him to on this season from an athletic point of view? That's a good question.

Wow. I don't know if I have the answer. Let me know if it comes to you. Okay. All right. I will say from his intelligence, I think Kylan is up there when it comes to like strategy puzzles, planning, doing stuff. But like, I don't know.

The spreadsheet guy. Yeah. Kylan thinks on another level, everything he sees is a number in a box and this is like It's ones and zeros. Well, that does help in some ways, but it's not always the way to play the game. We'll talk about his performance here in the daily, but I was just curious. So athletically, okay, all right, that's good. I'm sorry, intellectually.

Intellectually. Okay, cool. So after this elimination, how was your damage control? Did you feel your alliance would take you back even though you didn't have to compete? Like, talk to us about the feeling afterward. So we haven't, we don't know how it's all going to play out yet. But coming back from the arena, I felt like. everyone was willing to give me another chance, which is what my goal was.

It's not shown, but during that nomination, I told them, everybody vote for me. It's fine. I'm not going to be mad. I'm not going to hold it against you. I just want to put this line in the sands. You know that I'm with you. And like, let's do something different going forward because I wanted to make sure I was not going to be the guy thrown down every single men elimination.

Like I ended up being on spies, lies and allies. Because no matter how good of a competitor I think I am, There's a percent chance. It's something that I'm not. I'm a big guy. If I had to climb or hold myself up or do something, my muscles are going to work against me, not in my favor. So I was like, I want to avoid eliminations as much as I can,

even though I think I can win. So that was my goal. And I think coming back into the house, everyone was warm and welcoming except big team, Melissa, obviously they were still, they were mad at me. And I think the way I handled that was not great. But to try to get the numbers from the majority alliance.

I think it worked. We'll see. I don't know. Next guy's days coming. We'll see and we'll definitely be getting into the big team of the list of stuff pretty soon here. Okay. So after his interview, a manual kind of list of people that, you know, put him in, Kyle and Horatio, Big T, he says something that kind of remind me of something that you would say, but probably

just not as dramatic, which is just like, you take a shot at me, you take a shot at my family. Emmanuel's so dramatic. I love it. I think the essence of what he was trying to say was just like, you know, you're eliminating my chance of the prize money for my family, you know, so what were you about to say? Well, I just, the only thing. Like, I just have a big issue with, like, the disrespect he showed Jordan. Because Jordan, everything that's been said to Emmanuel regarding Jordan has been said by other people to never come out of Jordan's mouth.

He never, he's been nothing but respectful. And I think Jordan winning that elimination round, I think he did two things. I think he proved a point. And I think he performed like a professional. And I think that if anything, Emmanuel should have been like, I'd like to go against you. But, like, giving him disrespect like that. Yeah, I think churning his back and doing that was above and beyond. I've said more negative things about Emmanuel than Jordan has, and I think if I were to come in there and he would act like that, I'd be cool.

I've trashed you, literally. I called him the Brokeback Jordan. But Jordan's not like that. Jordan only speaks with like his competition most of the time. And I just thought that I'm like, this is like, Jordan probably doesn't even know why this kid is acting like this. Yeah. Talk to us about that moment. You know, all the guys were pissed. Like, I don't know if you could tell, but like I think I might have been the only one clapping.

for Jordan because everyone was just they don't like you know Jordan's a showman you know he stood in the arena he kind of like played with Kieran and like mind game type stuff and the guys were like that's disrespectful that's rude yada yada yada's like all the straight dudes were just like fuck Jordan that's what Jordan does and I'm just like I don't know this is entertaining yeah and also like he got rid of Kieran and I don't want Kieran here no here's better than me in a lot of stuff and do a final yeah if I'm in a final with Kieran you know like I'm realistic about my abilities. I think I can win, which is why I show up on the show.

But I also know those people who are going to make it very hard for me if they're at the end with me. Karen is one of those people. So at the end of the day, I was happy. Yeah. 10 grand to me is well worth getting rid of someone who is a threat in the final. Yeah. Everybody online is like, why are they? Why doesn't care about the money?

Well, because every time someone goes home, my percent chance of winning goes up. Even if it is just Big T. Like, she wasn't in my alliance, which means that somehow she could get numbers to maybe vote me out. It could be anyone. It's not even just about her. It's like if you're not distinctly with me, I want you gone before I go home. And before we go to the next phase, I don't know what's going to be in conquest. So like chaos is all I have right now.

Sure, get rid of people for me. And the hard part about one winner is usually when there's two winners, you can have great alliances with females. I would love Zara there in that situation. Exactly. But when there's one winner, it sets up the show for way more blindsides. The girls have to eventually start thinking like, I don't want to run a final against. fill in the blank. Just like you guys are saying,

I don't want to run a final against Zara. Yep. You know? Yep. And you let someone stay up with you. It could come down to, you know, a last second puzzle.

And Zara's going to get to that puzzle faster than me because I know she's faster. I don't know if she does at puzzles, but the fact that she'd get there X amount of minutes before me. She's a threat. Yeah. No, you spoke to two distinct points,

which is number one, like you focus your time on your strength, but if someone focuses their time more on their climbing or they're swimming or whatever, they might have that advantage. So yeah, Kieran, And we'll see you.

Yep. And number two is your expected earning, statistically speaking, goes up when Kieran leaves. It's also whether I win, I think, when, are we, we're at like $400,000, I think, when we started chaos. Yeah. But whether I won $400,000 or $300,000, that's still a lot of money that I'd be happy to get. And it's like, even if the prize was $50,000, that's more money than I showed up with on day one. And so, sure, champs keep winning. I don't care.

Right. If I win, I'm getting money regardless. And I know some people online don't understand that methodology, but I don't care about $10,000. There's a lot of things that the people online don't understand. Yeah. They're not, like, that's the thing is I would advise anyone who is ever on the challenge to literally not. I mean, if you don't like what people are saying, don't read the comment.

Yeah, I'm learning that. Literally someone, they could have like, they could like a character from like years ago. and it doesn't matter what you do in that situation, they're still going to be mean, nasty, and terrible to you, why are you going to take that to heart? It's not about me, per se. Right. It's the cycle, man.

It's the cycle. Whoever was their favorite is going to be, you know, their favorite forever. And whoever you go after, if it's their favorite, they're going to come after you. What I kind of, like,

think it's funny is, like, obviously I know sometimes you respond to a comment or two. Yeah. I try to respond nicely. Yeah. Like, oh, thanks for watching the season. Yeah. I've seen that.

I've seen a lot of people, you know, people that we've interviewed. that they respond to comments, but it's like, part of me is like, dude, you know they have no idea what they're talking about. Like, you actually know that. I'm, you know, getting to know you guys. I don't know fucking anything compared to what you guys.

So like, don't listen to them, man. I'll take that advice. Trust me. Literally, I remember after the first season I did with Jenna, she would be like on her phone. I'm like, what are you doing? Why are you reading that stuff? I'd be like trying to sleep.

I'm like, I don't even care. It's addicting sometimes. It is. And I like, sometimes you like to see what people say, but like, I never cared much. Like, I'm like, yeah, because. you know what you're talking about. Another thing is like we, I was messaging someone, you know, recently that we had talked about on the show. And I try to explain to them like, you do understand

that we're talking about the TV character, not you. And there's so many people that think they know Zach, but they know the TV character that CBS or I'm sorry, MTV at the time, produced of Zach. People know the MTV character if they produced of Corey. That's why you're here. You know, what's interesting is, you know, I called my mom weekly, you know, in the house. And she was say to me, Corey. 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.