The Zach Nichols Podcast - Vendettas Episode 9 Review + the Olivia Kaiser Champion's Interview featuring Atlas & Theo! | ZNP EP. 161

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

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Welcome back to the Zach Nipples podcast. What's up, Nips? Big Nips. Hey, Dad. Titties. That was my daughter. Anyways, anything you want to talk about? Any, any, we have a potential, well, we have a show coming up in June.

We do have a show in June. By the time you hear this, everything out, it'll be announced. We have a slew of guests. Some good ones in the hopper. Some great ones even further back in the chamber. We've really been hump and booty to give you guys one hell of it off season. We hope you appreciate it. We've had fun.

And public service announcement. I'm softer than puppy turds. What? What does that mean, dude? I'm a bitch. What? Yeah. Since when?

Well, probably forever, but I just really realized it last night. Okay, why? I couldn't sleep last night for undisclosed reasons. And so I started channel surfing because I just sometimes it's like cool. Is there something cool on? Like maybe The Departes on. Maybe Shawshank's on. I don't know.

Let's see. I know you guys don't like movie talk. But I roll up on The Rookie with Dennis Quaid. And I'm like, yeah. Like this was a cool movie, you know, not remember the Titans, but, you know, better than Mighty Ducks. Of the ilk. Yeah.

Not better than Mighty Ducks, but proceed. I mean, it is to me. And I didn't realize it until last night. And I'm watching it. And this guy, right? Just old teacher goes back. Walks around his hometown. No one knows what he's really capable of.

Goes back. Throw a 98 mile per hour. Just piss missiles. makes the Tampa Bay Devil Raise. And the scene where he calls home to tell him he got called up and he tells his son, I got Misty. Because I got kids now and I'm just like sitting there like, oh my gosh, now I'm not going to be able to sleep because my tired eyes are now awoke because there's tears in them.

And I was like, I'm soft. But there was something about the father achieving his dream. and his son being able to watch that just got me. Sensitive Sally. It got me. And like when he was changing diapers at the tryouts and stuff, like just rolling up in jeans, just throwing heaters in jeans.

I was like, dude, like maybe I need to go pro in baseball. Yeah. Which is why I wore my Detroit Tigers jersey day. Also today, well, I can't say that. You could. Well, we are filming this on Detroit Tigers opening day. Last time I checked, they're up two to nothing. So I wore my Tigers jersey.

Go Tigers. Go Tigers. Yeah. Big baseball fan, not really. I was going to say, shout out to the rookie. Shout out to all the classic baseball movies. Angels in the Outfield. That's a good one.

There is. Thiever pitch. Rookie of the year. Rookie of the year. Funky butt loving. Yeah, bro. Put it in his kitchen. Funky butt loving.

Hot ice. You got to heat. Phil Brickma. Got to heat the ice. All that stuff. So we're doing our best. I mean, to me, you know, this is a very extended time. for me not to be watching the challenge.

I'm having withdrawals. A little bit kind of, you know. We're still watching it. It's just like, where's my new challenge? I need it and I want it. I've never survived this long without it since covering it. However, Vendettas is getting good. And the thing I was going to say is we're covering episode nine today.

It is getting very good. And what I'm going to tell you is episode nine is where I turn the switch. And I made, I was sloppy in this episode a little bit. And I don't know if you know what I'm talking about. I mean, I'm ready to hear it, but on the field, off the field. I got, lost your footing once or two. Oh, no, I'm not even talking about that. It was, that was hard.

But I got sloppy in this episode, in a certain, we'll talk about it. But this was the episode where I really decided to flip the switch, because where it starts is with the Kayla and Maria Libination round. And this is when I realized like, okay, I have to be in control because Marie was working with me. And I was like two people that I'm working with, even though I'm working with Johnny in this moment too. But me and Johnny can't technically, the only alliance that we're really sharing is Cara. And Marie has my back. Kayla has my back.

And kind of through that, I kind of have Cam, Zanadas has my back. but my girls are going into the Inquisition and two winning the elimination round. And so that's a chink in my armor. You saw your number dwindle in real time. I did. It was kind of scared you. Okay, so now I can't sit by and stay out of Troika's.

Me and Tony have to, and Tony's in a heater still, obviously. I got to lock in because if Natalie keeps getting these power positions, eventually I'm going to get to a point where, yeah, I might be safe with the guys, but all my girls. Where you're a female votes at. Right. Where you're a female votes at.

So this was the episode where the flip was switched for me in my head. Like, okay, I have to now get aggressive. I can't just sit back and let the game go by. So this is, and basically from this episode on, it becomes the Zach show. Yeah. Oh, it does. The Zach and Tony show. I can't take Tony out of it, but it really was, it was like the Tony show.

powered by Zach. And it starts kind of narrative-wise, it starts in that Troika before this episode where Nelson is really saying, hey, Kara has Zach. Yeah, or no, that's in this episode. Yeah, and Nelson is saying that too. He goes, yeah, Kayla, number one is Zach. Everyone kind of knows that. And it's, I don't know.

How did that feel like kind of having people know that you and Kayla were like basically number ones? Well, I mean, it's, I kind of like, listen, Kayla and Jen are our best friends. So it's almost like if I walk on a show with Nani, everyone knows Nani's not saying my name. Same thing with Kayla in this time. Like those two,

because Nani was kind of still on her break. So like, Kayla kind of took Nani's position with Jenna. So even showing up at the airport, like, I don't know. I met Kayla on invasion, but like, yeah,

we really didn't like communicate much because she was gone very quickly. But showing up at the airport, it was like, yo, like we got each other. Like obviously we have to. We have the mutual.

Yeah. My girlfriend. is your best friend. Like, so people knew that. But it was also like, he didn't just say Kayla. He said Car Maria. So, yeah, like, this was out there. People knew.

But, like, also, I don't think these guys, like, I didn't really, like, like Nelson went to the final in an invasion. Like, I wasn't there. I wasn't on 30, which served me very well for this season. So I think they knew, like, they had me. but I don't think a lot of the guys in the house, besides Johnny and Leroy, really knew how good of a competitor I was capable of.

They, because they hadn't competed with me. When you don't compete with someone, you hear stories and like, oh, he was great, but like everyone thinks they're great. We're all egotistical and narcissists. So at the end of the day,

like they didn't really understand, like what I was capable of, which is great. And I got underestimated. And I really, besides my one Troika with Tony, I wasn't really making power, moves. It was the Johnny show. Like Johnny and Kyle and Tony dominated the Troika early on.

Mm-hmm. So let's get into this episode. Episode 9, Vendettas, if you haven't figured it out by now, back at the house after the Daily Challenge, Marie and Kayla, excuse me, are baffled by Cam's decision to throw Marie in. They kind of approach her in the same bathroom and, hey, what was going on here? I mean, but if you don't understand that, come on. She, no, she's a rookie, but. But here's the thing. There's something I noticed, but go ahead. Cam could. have only tied it up. Unless she burned on herself. Unless she burned on herself, right.

But that's a vet move. Right. She probably didn't realize that she could have burned on herself. But if it gets tied up, it goes to the winning team. And who do you think that Johnny, Cara, and Natalie? Cara's going to put her foot down. It has to be Cam. Yes.

So that's what Cam was thinking. She didn't realize burn on myself. But even if, I think even if she, because it was two to two, and Cam was the deciding vote. No, it was 2-1. It was 2-1 because it was Brad, Marie, Jemmy, and then Cam had that last vote. So it would have been, it would have been

either 2-2, or 2-1- or 2-1- and it would have been Jemmy going in. Yeah. But I was actually happy with this because Jemmy had my back. So I didn't really best case scenario for me was Cam goes in, but that wasn't going to happen. Right. Right.

So I do have a quick question though. I was like, is there any chance, because we see, and I don't know how strong this friendship is, but, and even Natalie kind of says, hey, Cam is an option, but then she doesn't put her in the Troika. Is there any chance that Cam is playing a little double agent here with Natalie on one side and this group on the other side? I think, I think that could have been going through Cam's brain.

I think she kind of saw like, okay. Because it was interesting that she wasn't in the Troika. Who? Or you mean in the Inquisition? Or in the Inquisition. Yeah. That was more so. Also, Nelson didn't want to vote for her either. And that concludes the free preview of the Zach Nichols podcast.

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