The Challenge 40: Episode 14 Discussion

0:55 Welcome back to the Nullified Take channel on YouTube where Kahuna and I have the TNT takes for you on the challenge episode 14. That is right. We don't have an actual episode airing this week because of Thanksgiving over in the USA, but for those of you that are sad, sit back and relax. We're here to talk about all things The Challenge for episode 14 and I'm excited to talk about this. You know, Kahuna, it takes a certain level of motivation to do what we do. You want to enjoy the show that you talk about. And I spoke to Mackey about it actually. I think it was on Sunday we text the back and forth and I said to him, "Survivor just doesn't get me up like that anymore, but The Challenge I have not lost the passion to want to pick up the pen, write down some notes, and come here week in and week out and talk to you about it." So, I'm really happy to talk about a show that I really enjoy, Kahuna.

1:48 How's things going on your end? You want to speak about motivation to talk about something. You asked me how it was going right before we went to air and I my response was miserable right now because I was outside with the kids. It's 9:00 p.m. here. but after dinner about 7:30, I took the kids out with our new puppy dog and they were sort of having a run around burn off their energy before going to bed and I made sure to air a guard them up. but I as a dad often does, doesn't look after himself. So, it's summer. It's hot. It's humid and mosquito bites just went to town on me. They absolutely destroyed me. So, if you are watching and I start scratching, I haven't developed a new ice habit or anything like that.

2:40 You're not on the juice or anything. Or is that an elaborate cover? Yeah. No, yeah. I was outside with the kids on the playground and they smashed me. But still, despite that, I want to have a chat about the challenge. I'll have the calamine lotion bath afterwards. or you know, what I can do to stave off the itching, but yeah, I'm glad to actually come back and talk about the challenge as always. Yeah, listen. We are very grateful that you're here even though it may be a little bit uncomfortable for you tonight while we talk about the challenge and I'm excited I'm excited. The reason we're doing it tonight as well for those that are wondering for some weird reason this week in Australia, we didn't get access to the episode at the same time that we would normally get access to it. So, we were both ready to do it Thursday night Thursday morning like we normally would do on that time slot, but then couldn't get the episode and it didn't work out for us over the weekend.

3:40 Busy schedule on my end. So, we're back here early Monday morning for those that are in the US to talk about the challenge and the latest episode. We've got two people already here in the live. Hollers, welcome back and lovable Nikki, welcome back to the live. We really appreciate you jumping on so early to listen to us talk about the challenge. for what was in my opinion, Kweena, like you know, I said I'm really happy to talk about the episode and I'm happy to be back and talk about the challenge. I do enjoy the challenge, but if I had to write this episode, I reckon it was probably one of the more boring straightforward episodes that we've seen so far because the story lines just felt so obvious throughout the episode. It felt so obvious where we were going to go. Did you have that same feeling or were you higher on the episode than I was? it's a you know, por que no los dos, a little bit of both. It was it was predictable for me.

4:32 As soon as I saw like the opening just immediately after the recap the sort of first thing we get is Josh getting a highlight about how I'm like, "Oh, Josh He's going home. We both knew he was going home at that point. As soon as he gets a little bit of hype up and stuff, I'm like, "Hang on a sec. What why is why are we getting Josh so early here?" and I was like, "Ooh, is that what I'm thinking it is?" If you if you had to guess, Kweena, if you had to guess with Josh, like how did he lose the 500k that he won from Big Brother? Like what do you reckon he blew it on? Because he's talking like someone who didn't win 500k every time he plays the season. He's talking like someone that desperately needs that money. I mean, I know he's not there just for the appearance fee, but I don't know. Like it's like what did he do with the 500k? He's talking like he didn't win a show before, you know?

5:23 He's in the challenge. waiting for money. He's fine. He had that plus his appearance fees by now being a not just MTV vet, but CBS as a whole vet. Like he's fine. He's doing okay. Like Not to worry about that. higher paid He's one of the higher paid returnees now because they need to bank on him every season. They know he's someone that they're going to invest in for many seasons to come in the future. I know there's a lot of people online who don't like Josh and they were going in on him afterwards to say, you know, is he the worst Big Brother player ever to come from the Big Brother franchise over to The Challenge, which he isn't. He definitely isn't. There's been worse Big Brother players that maybe appeared once and never came back. I can see why a lot of people want to think that, but he does like what does Josh do for the show, Kena?

6:15 We've spoken about this before, but I feel like we need to reiterate this for people who are listening. He is a big character. He's not there to win the show, right? He's not there to win the show, but he's there to give us drama. He's there for us to have moments and to get people upset about the fact that he is there. He does bring a certain element of storylines to the show and we can't just have I don't believe I'm the one saying this, Kena, of all people. I've grown on this podcast, right? We can't just have athletes playing this game, you know, specimens. Like we need TV characters as well, Kena. When I first started talking about The Challenge, this would have been unthinkable for me to say something like this, but it fits that Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's fascinating like you're weeding me out a little bit cuz we're like we've got a bit of a mind think thing going on because when you said like was it a good episode like yeah, am I high on it?

7:09 There was a moment where Josh actually said I feel really honored to be one of the ones chosen to represent Era 4. And I was like and I thought about that for a second. I was like, "Woah, because yeah, he's not good. Like you would never pick him if you're putting together your best team." And I was like they're really hurting, I think. And then I was like, "Why didn't they have someone like a Fessy? Fessy would be a much stronger competitor in this." And then I'm like, "Actually, Era 4 is kind of dominant already while having Joshua in the team. Would Fessy be better? And then I was like, you know what? Fessy would not be better on this season. Josh has brought so much like television, not competitiveness, not any level of skill or coordination, but television.

8:02 He has brought a lot and I actually I agree like he deserves that spot as a representative of era four as far as like how like he is reality TV. He is kind of what the challenge is. He's very much what a lot of the early OG challenge was as far as being messy, drama, crying, screaming, good for TV, not great at strategy, but not great strategically. Yeah, it didn't not matter. He was He is the epitome. He's just in the wrong era is what it was. So to have him on the show is great. That's why Rachel loved him so much. That's why Rachel loved him so much cuz he fits in. He fits in era, you know? After that I was sort of maybe I don't know if I was a little bit of a weird headspace nostalgically or whatever, but I was watching Josh talking about being the representative for era four and I remember earlier in the episode he's chatting with Rachel and stuff and I mean this season we're 14 episodes in, right?

9:05 We're not finished yet. It's getting close, but I was sitting there like smiling at times. I'm enjoying the fact that we've got a Rachel from freaking 20 years ago with the bananas and the Jordans of the world who aren't the best skilled, but then a Josh he's interacting with a Michelle who and we saw Cara Maria having fun with Tori and I was like this is just so much like fun for me watching all these eras and even 14 episodes in I just had that moment where I was like this is great. Like this is kind of what, you know, we wanted it to be. Yeah. Yeah. And lovable Nikki saying who is worse Big Brother player on The Challenge than the goof? Well, I think Charlotte's got a fissy. Fissy's zero personality would bring nothing to this game. Just confessionals speaking about how nobody understand that he's an introvert. Like I don't think you have to look very long to find a worse player than Josh.

9:58 There's a lot I'm not saying Josh is God's gift to The Challenge as the best physical challenge specimen to ever play the game. If we're purely ranking Josh based on his challenge ability, he's right at the bottom. Yeah, sure lovable Nikki. Josh is right at the bottom when it comes to the physical part of it. Maybe with Who was the girl who was Paulie's partner in the first season that he played? Natalie. Maybe her. Like she's not she's not that great either from memory. the one from USA? The one that was with Tyler. Is it a I can't even remember. Like but I don't know who we need to count USA. Okay. I don't even know we need to count the USA in there. But in my opinion, like when we're saying that Josh is not the worst is because he is multifaceted. He does bring other things to the show. I don't think unlike Bananas, I don't think he's ever going to win the show, right?

10:50 Bananas is like, you know, he'll get there one day and was very supportive of him. He's a He's a good guy, you know? But Bananas' takes have been very cold this season. Like I prefer the West's takes where West was like, he badly wants to be a real boy. You know, he badly doesn't want to be Pinocchio. He wants to be a real boy. He wants to go out there and prove that he's a challenger but he'll never be that. So again, West I agree with West. All the encouragement, there's an element of like how you're really nice to the special kid kind of thing. Like there's a little bit of like they treat him nice because they know. Like And I say this as I'll tell you something, in Filipino culture, right? It's I think it's very similar to in Spanish culture, they have like a quinceañera where a girl has their 15th birthday party and stuff, right? We'll either have a 15th or we'll have like a 21st party or an 18th party, which is normal, but one of the traditions is that the girl has for their 18th birthday or their 21st birthday, whatever, has 18 roses and then has a dance with 18 significant males in their life, which is kind of creepy now that I think about it as an older guy, but that was the process.

12:03 And I was always like one of the 18 roses. I had friends that was I was close with, etc. But being the big fat guy that I was and am, when I would get to dance, they would get this like cheer from the crowd that I knew that was like a pity. I'm like, "Why are you giving me this? I'm just like, don't give me the pity like cheers. Like, "Ooh, I get to dance with a girl or something." But I get that vibe for Josh where it's like, "Oh, he'll get there. Come on, Josh." Like, no, he won't. They know. They know So while we're while we're on the subject of hyping people up, man, they were laying it on thick with Derek this episode. Like, they were just like, "Derek really deserves to be there. Derek is the best guy ever. He can hang with Jordan and credit Jordan is totally the dark horse. Yeah, credit to him. He did beat Jordan, but they were laying it on pretty thick with him as well.

12:56 Like, didn't you get that vibe like they were all trying to like convince us that Derek is going to be a challenger at the end of this where we all know there's no way in hell Derek is winning this season. There's just no way. See, I got The vibe that I got for Derek was actually similar to Josh, but in the other in the other way where it's almost prove himself or something. Well, it's almost offensive how surprised they are by it. They laid it on so they're like, "Holy crap. Like, I can't but like everyone thinks Derek should be a piece of crap and he actually can do something." And like there's a little bit of element of like don't I don't think Derrick is a piece of crap, and maybe that is because we're not in the house. We don't get to experience like we don't see the off-camera stuff, and maybe they're talking about him like he is a piece of crap and like he can't do it. But I don't get that vibe from him.

13:47 It almost feels Yeah, abilities wise. Like we don't think much of it. Like people don't think much of him, so Look at that. Wow. Like overpraising in the opposite direction, maybe. I don't know. That's kind of Too much for me. Too much. But it was a little bit like it was from a place of he actually did well though, right? It wasn't from a place of encouraging someone who's Yeah. It was It was maybe over overcorrecting for someone that needed some actual recognition because he probably was overlooked a little bit less than more than what he should have been. Cuz we were saying in last season in All Stars how fast he was and how competitive he was in that environment. the people in the All Stars, which is different compared to competing to younger competitors. John is saying here they love to hype up people that are not perceived threats, and I do agree with that.

14:38 Charlotte also says here I read it more as he beat me. I could only possibly be beaten by a beast. So in our confessionals we're going to big him up so we don't look weak losing to him in the daily. Charlotte's saying that Jordan is playing some 4D chess here and is a couple He's way ahead of everybody. Pretty naive. But I definitely I mean it was a cool moment. I love the daily challenge as a whole. Like whenever they bring up the big the big semi trucks, it's always one of the highlights for me in any season when they bring that out. And it looked like a fun challenge. Whenever I look at the dailies, Kahuna, and I look at these challenges, the reason I enjoy the show is because of the creativity. The fact that they constantly bring new things back or they modify a daily challenge that we all know and love, like the big semi trucks. We've never I don't feel like seen this specific version of it where they have to swing out of it and hit targets as they're driving at 55 mph.

15:34 And I love to envision myself and think how would I act in that moment? Like would I enjoy doing this daily? And this is one of those dailies that I would absolutely have freaking loved. You know, being from Africa, I was very well known for jumping out of a crane, swinging on ropes pretending to be Tarzan. You know, like I feel like this would have been up my wheelhouse, Koda. I would have been like a big kid in a candy store. And I think that's what it was like for guys like Bananas who did extremely well. You know, Jordan who got to show some of his athleticism. Derrick 100%, you know, showing some skills there and showing that he does have some different quivers to his bow. Is that the right saying? Like, you know, he can pull a couple of different things out. and overall just the fun daily elimination. I mean, were you surprised, shocked, did you like it?

16:24 How was it for you watching this at home? I was watching it on TV. I was on the couch and I was I was loving every moment to be honest. I was worried at the start when Kareem and Tory set such a lightning pace. I was like, oh, this no one can do this. It's going to be super boring. Right? Like if they made it too difficult, like if the difficulty level is just too much where it becomes boring when no one can do anything. But it was fun. Like it I'm glad it actually started out with two legends of the game just completely floundering. And then they even commented. They left it in the edit, which I thought was really brilliant that someone was like, "Wow, that looks really cool." When they smashed the thing. I was like, "It does look really cool when they smashed the thing." You weren't even seeing it in slow motion. but it looked awesome. Again, the challenge just raising the bar on visuals.

17:14 If they miss on like they take the gamble where sometimes they'll like this is going to look awesome even if it's going to suck as a challenge. Sometimes it's like it takes a big miss as far as competitiveness or like everyone can do it way too easy or no one can do it at all. But I feel like this looked spectacular and was such a very unique skill and it played well. Like to have people go from two to 100%. person The only person who had a hard time out there was Aviv. She was the shortest person in the cast. Clearly struggling has had an issue with her Was it an ankle or something or knee? I can't remember as well. Maybe that played into it a little bit as well because she is a beast to be honest. I don't give a crap about the height difference. And to be honest I love it. I've become so used to it and now I love the fact that the challenge is unfair sometimes because it's going to be unfair It's going to be unfair like listen it's going to be unfair this week for Aviv and then next week it'll do something that will suit Aviv, right?

18:17 So it comes in roundabouts. It swings around and that's life sometimes Gunther. Life doesn't make things fair. We all don't get participation trophies if we go out there and compete. So I like the fact that yes this wasn't Aviv's cup of tea but it was kind of like I don't know like I kind of felt like next week it'll be something else. Michelle and also maybe it's because I was happy Michelle wasn't last. Like she finally She finally got out of that bottom spot as a female. I don't know like she froze. She didn't even jump at the end like yeah. So I don't know what happened there but like the luck of the draw against Aviv like imagine if she like I know it's not it hasn't happened but she very well could end up in the elimination that Theo had. Imagine Aviv getting one where she's crawling through the thing like she destroys that, right?

19:08 Whereas Theo's getting a both get the penalty? Why do I feel like Aviv was the only one who got the penalty? Did they both get a penalty? I don't know actually. I'm pretty I think Tori got three. Unless I'm wrong. I only did watch it once, but I'm pretty sure Aviva's Okay. Well, then they both should get the penalty, right? Maybe you know how they always do something about who got the two fastest or something like You know how they do that kind of thing? But Tori definitely got two because Kameron got five and Tori only got two and I was like, "Oh, this is going to suck." Yeah. but yeah, so I know she got two, but maybe it was like she got the two faster than Aviva got them or something like that. They always have some sort of weird tiebreaker. Yeah. Lovable Nikki saying, "Ooh, Derek hate. I'm telling the Discord." So, being here undercover, checking us out, making sure the Discord get all the sneaky goss.

20:02 Yeah, we're not a Derek love podcast, Lovable Nikki. Derek is like the lowest person on our totem pole and we smack talk him every week. He just ended with Bon Air to see that. No, we're fine with Derek. No hate towards Derek whatsoever. He just got way overhyped. Yeah, just way overhyped this episode. Like I was just like, "I don't like it." You know, whenever they overhype someone like, "don't do that." like not cuz you know how I was saying like with Josh getting his shine, I was like, "Ooh, like he's going home." And I was like, "Wait, what's going on with Derek here where he's getting so much like shine right now? Is something going to happen to him like that like what but they kind of they kind of I felt between you and me you know, tinfoil hat being put on here for a second while we're on the topic of Derek. I feel like it was pushed by production cuz production used this moment with both Rachel and Derek both being from the LGBT LGBTQ community winning to showcase that they did it for that community, which is amazing.

21:04 Like it's great that representation is out there, but they had to go that step further. Like, we've always been allies, showing all the past. So, they just wanted the moment. So, I feel like they definitely I feel like push people towards doing this like to play into it. It's part of the storyline. That's TV. That's all right. That's TV. That's TV. And they did it to showcase the past and also Man, there's some there's some beasts from the past though in that community. Like, a couple of people that I saw from way back that they showed in the in the flashbacks and you're like, I completely forgot, but these people are beasts. Like, they could do a whole season with them if they wanted to. They could do a whole season. Like, think about it. How many there's been from that community in the past, but they only select maybe one or two per season. Should there be more? That's the question that should be asked at the back of this. It's always just, you know, the token.

21:54 Like, as long as you have one, we're good. Like, It's you just we just need one in the season and we're That's it. We hit the we hit the quota. We got we got the little tick box. We've always been an ally. We've like Anyways, that I don't know. I just saw through what they were doing and it was like, what are you guys doing? But, happy for both Rachel. Happy for Derrick. if you asked me before the challenge, who was going to win it, I would not have had my money on both of them. I would have thought Tori, Cara Maria with maybe Rachel in third. I wasn't as shocked by Rachel winning this, but Derrick would not have been someone that I thought would win this. So, they hit the nail on the head. Definitely an unexpected winner. and who doesn't like to see the underdog beat the big Goliath, the champion? Like, Tori said, you know, he's Michael Jordan. He's Michael Jordan of the challenge. Regard- Yeah, regardless, like he's right.

22:46 Beating Jordan would be a huge thing and then he pulled it off. Like, it's it's massive. When Jordan put out 11 out of 12, he literally had to be perfect to beat this man. And he did it. Like, he had to be 100%. That's the margin of error you're dealing with to beat Jordan on his day. You know what I mean? And he happened to pull it off on the perfect like culmination of events where this was the one where Derrick gets to beat Jordan. So, yeah, it's huge. Yeah. let's see what other people are saying here. no Tori got two but they didn't explain how Ave before it lost. Okay. Probably she was the slowest I would imagine. Then Charlotte's the Charlotte is saying would love to know how they decided who was penalized the speed wasn't controlled by them. Yeah, true. It's tracks Maybe it's eight or maybe if they get the first two where it's yeah, whereas Ave got the eighth one or something, you know?

23:41 Yeah. So, if they hit the targets earlier than the others so they got to two quicker than the other one. lovable Nikki is saying "Terrible behavior. Let me find out that's why y'all normally streaming y'all do." Exactly. Exactly. We get away scot-free. Like lovable Nikki, you're never here to keep us in check so this podcast has been off the rails for most of the season. It's been really good. It's I feel unshackled by the expectations that the bakery sometimes put on us Goon and we can just we can be unadulterated here, you know, just speak our mind. We get to say that Tori's awesome. But we like we're actually the we've been really Derrick positive I think pretty much the whole season that because he even last season like I think drafting into last season we thought he would be a complete non- entity, a non-factor. I was impressed in All-Stars to then go how does that translate to you know, the main show and he's actually done really well as far as being able to hide, slide under the radar cuz he's not one of the big guns, right?

24:43 We've been ranking Derrick in our as our number eight ranked guy the whole season. Like he's been in our top eight. That's a pretty good impressive record. No, I'm just joking. We don't have rankings. Some people are going to listen to this and be like these guys have got rankings? That's way too complex for us to have rankings on the show. Let's be honest. but no, we've been loving we've been loving what he's been doing. We've been loving Like I've just been high on the whole season. I don't think I've been too negative or too down on anyone this season. I've been loving what Bananas has been doing. That's been good. But moving away from Bananas, We just propped We just propped up Josh. Yeah, we just propped up Josh. We've been giving love to a lot of people on the show. this season. Like we've Well, okay, let me let me segue. Let me segue into this cuz I was going to go that direction. Like if you had to choose one player, one cast member this season that has done If you If the season finished right now, who has gained the most from this season in likability?

25:38 It has to be Corey. Corey has just gone up so much in likability this season. Like the family guy, doing it for his kids, talking about the open heart surgery that his daughter had to go through, which I wasn't even aware of. Maybe it hasn't hit me cuz I don't follow the social medias and all that kind of stuff. But I've always liked his heart as a competitor and the fact that he's been trying to get to the top of the mountain. And I love it when somebody is like working really hard at it. He's gotten better at puzzles. He's improved, where some people don't do that kind of stuff. But even this moment here with him and Nelly T. Like I mean, how can you still watch the show right now? Like even the Like his haters, like yourself, they've become his fans this season. Like there's nobody There's nobody that's I feel like gone in the opposite direction more than Corey out there. Like he's really for people who maybe were on the fence. Like surely there's no Corey haters out there anymore.

26:28 Like how can you hate this guy? It huge. It was huge cuz he even had that moment with Tori where he was going through the seasons, naming them, showing that he's actually been studying. He's not just the physical beast, which again he showed that he 100% is. He's an absolute monster on in the sand again, making him now Like we You were You were touting his record last episode about how he's one of the best ever in the in the sand and now he just added Not a not a huge but Come on Kahuna. You know but it all adds up here. Kahuna it's a it's a it's a stat right? It's a stat that you still tout when you get it. It all counts. Yeah no I've been loving I've been loving Corey and lovable Nicky spreading some misinformation here on the live saying that TNT has been Corey haters.

27:26 One half of TNT has been a Corey hater. The other half has always been very supportive of Corey and have been a fan of Corey this season. It's a very specific hate that I've had for Corey though right? Never as a person. Never as a person. Never as a character even but just always doubting his ability to actually win this game. and I think like your hate being a hater of his physical ability or his mental ability to do it is the kind of hate that Corey would appreciate. Corey would listen to that and be like they don't hate me for as a person but I'm going to show Kahuna I'm going to show not just Kahuna but anybody who doubts that I can become a champion. I'll prove them wrong. Like I feel like Corey is the kind of guy that will internalize that and then put some good use into that and actually do something with it but I want to talk about him and Yeah. I'll give you some hate for Corey this season.

28:16 A critique at least like what it makes me worried and I don't feel good about he doesn't seem to be setting himself up for future again. Like he's still that lone wolf I kind of like it. without his nearly team. Like I like it as well. I do I love it. He's been great. It's working well. But is it going to serve him well? He's going to be doing this exactly but Kahuna every season. A Kahuna. Like you want to talk about the week. He keeps getting to finals though. He keeps getting to finals though. It's like And so like if you know Yeah. I get it, but he keeps getting to finals and he has proven he can beat anyone if he does go down in the sand. I do think he has still has some loyalty like Michelle, I don't think is looking back at the end of this when she gets targeted and saying, "Oh, Cohutta is someone I can I sorry Cohutta.

29:12 Corey is someone I can never work with in the future." She'll be thinking to herself, "I took the first shot. He's entitled to take that shot back at me. I still love Corey. I didn't want to choose him, but I had no choice, right?" And Tori and him they still seem to be in a good position. So, if he's good with Tori, I think that will help in future seasons. Cara Maria, that's a bit of a strange one. As much as I like Cara Maria, I don't know if Cara Maria is locked in to come back next season or the season after. I don't know if she wants to be back every single season and what's going to happen there. So, that could be a good ally if she does come back, but that's up in the air. I do like the fact that Corey has an ability to move in the game because he is a little bit of a mercenary. No one's showing him that loyalty of wanting to bring him into the alliance full-time. So, that gives him flexibility in future seasons to work with whoever he wants and then he's good enough to win in the arena. The only criticism you can have of Corey at this stage in my mind is that if he gets to the final, is he going to fumble or is he going to deliver in the final?

30:10 Like I feel like that's where the jury's still out on him. But getting to the final, I think he's crafted a way for himself now. Yeah, and you're right. Like it's a it's a it's a 50/50 thing, right? There's two sides of the coin. You're very flexible. You can go both ways. You can work with a lot of people. He's not offended anyone really. Even yelling at Josh, he'll still be able to work with Josh. There's no there's no hard feelings anywhere, but there's no strong feelings anywhere either to the point where he's never going to be You know who he is? He's like Darrell. How we've been saying for years now that he's that floater that will just always be cut when it's the most convenient thing to do. Lucky for Corey, he's a freaking monster that comes back, but look how many times he's gone down and he hasn't done anything to really change his position in a lot of these alliances and stuff going forward.

31:03 I think that I think that moving forward Corey will have like this we've got to remember with the challenge every single season is different and the theme is different. So maybe this season the theme isn't really helping him that much cuz he can't take a direct shot at Josh. He can't take a direct shot at people that are coming for him. Next season though, he's coming back and he's like, "Listen, I am pound for pound one of the best to ever walk into the arena. If you take a shot at me, you best believe I'm going to take it back cuz the difference between him and Darrell is Darrell doesn't Darrell gets spicy to the camera and he got spicy back to Laurel this season when she overstepped a little bit, but I feel like he kind of pulls his punches a lot of the time. Yeah, he does and he doesn't back it up either in the arena where I feel like Corey can back it up. He's still young enough. He's in shape. He's doing well in the arena. Plus, he's very vocal about the fact that he's not happy. He's going to let you know you I'm taking this personal like he did with Josh, but Josh didn't care this season because it didn't really have an effect on his game.

32:01 Like I mean the irony of seeing both of them go head-to-head in this episode is actually kind of funny cuz like, you know, it's almost like someone did write a script for the show even though wasn't there with both of them having to go against each other. But I want to talk about Josh. You know, we gave him some credit previously on the podcast or earlier in this episode, but one of the most hypocritic things he said this whole bloody episode was, "You're like family to me, Corey." And Corey turned around and he's like, "Well, treat me like family then." And then he goes and gives him a one in the karma points, mate. What the hell? Would you be giving your family one in karma points, Kam? That's Josh, man. And like he's head is I he's wired differently because like I'm trying to understand how he's so very 100% friends with everyone but can also 100% play the game And stab hard.

32:59 Yeah, and backstab without any like thing while still saying I love you. Because it's And laughing in the back. Knife stuck in the back saying you're like family to me. Yeah, like he swings real hard in both directions, you know what I mean? Like with the overcorrecting love. I could never play with Josh. I could never but that's why he's good casting cuz I could never play with him. I would be like this guy I would never trust him. Like he's friends with everyone. Like there's that saying like if you've got if you're friends with everybody if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything, you know? Like and that's kind of that's kind of where Josh is in this game sometimes. But I don't want to move away from the emotional moment of seeing Nelly T on our screens. Like what a what a pure moment to see, you know, Nelly T on screen. We know back then you know, this was the first time that Corey got to speak to him after he had his leg amputated and you know, he's got the little stump that he showed him and you just see Nelly T smile.

33:56 You see the positivity of the guy. Like, you know, I wasn't cutting onions earlier during the episode but that got me a little bit seeing Corey so emotional in this moment. Just so happy for his friend that his friend is in a good place now and that he's coming back, you know, and like I said, it's just the raw human moment of brotherhood and friendship which is so pure to see. That we always talk about, you know, or you hear a lot of people talk about the toxic side of masculinity sometimes. This was a really pure and positive moment of friendship, you know, and even just with Nelly T being there it gives me hope that maybe in the future one day we'll see him back in some shape or form. Like, you know, if he can figure out figure out a way to run again, figure out a way to make it work, which I just feel like Nelly T's got that heart. You know, it's your moment. Highlight of the episode for me to see Nelly T back and to see that interaction.

34:49 Look, I always have like a really mixed feeling when I see because it does warm me like it was so inspiring, but I in the back of my head I just still have the reason why and I'm like it just kills me because then they showed the montage and he is such a lovable idiot, like isn't he? Like he's really such a good guy. We miss him as a character. Just does dumb things and he did the worst possible thing he could do and suffered some really serious consequences. And I hope he learned a real positive lesson, but I almost wonder if maybe like I know you don't want to like highlight what he did but being putting him on TV is there maybe a PSA like a moral lesson they could, you know, an anti-DUI kind of thing maybe they could have put in there.

35:45 I don't know, but It's a bit heavy. Maybe it's too early like to do something like that after he's just gone through this thing, you know, I get why they steered away from it and I'm sure that Yeah, I get why they did. I'm sure I'm sure if Nelly T comes back on to play the game in the future we will have that moment of him explaining what happened to him and how he got to the position that he's in because there are people out there, not many, that are casual when it comes to the challenge. I feel like most challenge fans are pretty intense. Like obviously Jordan's shown that he can compete with one hand and Nelly T I mean, he's never been the best at the challenge, but like he's a physical specimen. The dude is like a freak athlete. I was looking at him going with one leg he could outdo everything I can do, like right? And I think he can he's the he's especially the type that will get to that point.

36:36 Like Derrick is pointing out like he's actually he's actually expressed interest in being in the Special Olympics. Like that's the kind of That'd be cool. Yeah. level of athlete he's wanting to get to. so if he can get to like I think he'll get there. He looks like he's got the ability to do it. And the challenge would jump at a storyline to have him walk in you know, prosthetic in play, like you know, and watch him overcome and struggle. And maybe they set challenges up in a way that he's not climbing up steep you know, curves and things like that. But I guess when it comes to eliminations and things you can't really pick what comes from the luck of the draw, but Yeah. Jordan has to do things he has to do, but I think he'll definitely be back once he's rehabbed to the point where he can run and actually do things because we know that you know, especially able athletes can do like phenomenal stuff.

37:36 So I think he'll be I think he'll be back 100% and it'll be a huge story. To- totally agree. I want to shift focus to Cory a little bit here. Someone who's actually playing in this season. Cory said in this episode that he's the best guy to never win. And I kind of do agree with that now. We used to say Leroy used to be the guy that everybody used to point to, but he's dropped off significantly in recent times and probably did more damage to his legacy than good. but if you look at a guy like Cory, five finals, three second place finishes to date, 11 wins and four losses with those 11 wins I believe being there's a crazy something like eight or nine eliminations in a row. I don't have the stat in front of me that he's now won without losing. And also if you look at dailies, apparently most daily challenge wins in a row in a single season is also something that he has won and he's had 22 daily wins overall.

38:32 Really putting his stats up there as probably one of the best to play the game but never win at this stage. Is there anybody else that's even in the conversation right now? If we had to look at someone that we would say is the best to never win. You can't like that. He's like if Leroy was considered that before, I think it was only because of like it felt like Corey was still Mhm. young in the in the challenge world, right? It didn't feel like he had as long of as a resume, but in reality, he's been there a long time. Like when he was talking today that he was on Duel 2 or whatever, I was like, holy crap, that was like a long time ago. Why is that still era three? His first season His first season was Battle of the Bloodlines. So that's way after Duel. Oh, it's way after that. was the first one. Oh, Battle of the Okay.

39:23 May He mentioned Duel 2 when he was doing the memory test, so that's why it was in my head. But yeah, he's been he's got a resume. He's been there a long time now. And to he arguably is the best that's never done it. And that Look, I want to say that's why I've been criticizing him for a while now, right? I also want to say you can't cop out of this because when you used to say he had the worst record like, you know, of not I feel like you were very and I spoke I remember specifically me and you having this conversation when we first spoke about it and I said to you're results focused on the fact that he hasn't won a championship, but he's gotten to the end so many times and he's been so close so many times. Just because you get a silver doesn't mean you're That you can't You're and your verbatim words No, Kina. I'm going to hold you accountable on this one. Your verbatim words back then was, you know, he's one of the worst competitors ever.

40:17 And I was like, you can't like the guy's got an impeccable record in eliminations, getting to finals and you were saying worst competitor. I will say this, I definitely made sure the people who are still listening to our podcast after that cuz some people may have bowed out, they're the true fans. They're like, we can we can listen to Cohutta's wild takes even though he was saying it back then. Yeah, I didn't mean like actual competitor like Josh level like Yeah. Like obviously not. I meant number of seasons without winning like he is now approaching. If he keeps adding to it as well, he's going to surpass Leroy in season total as well, right? Like cuz Leroy's kind of fading out now and Cory doesn't look like he's necessarily done. He's taking his breaks, but I don't think he's like done. Yeah. He's going to rack up more and more seasons without a championship. It does get to that point and I would never like obviously, he's a physical monster.

41:10 I know what he can do competitively. It's just I meant the number of seasons without a championship. He may go down as the worst in that category making him the best to play the game and never win. Yeah, I'm kind of interested. So we had CT go 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 eight seasons before he won his first one. So he had eight seasons of not winning. Cory currently has racked them up. He's on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 I don't know, no, that's all right. I'm wrong one. So 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. So he's two over CT. But if you look at it, if you think about it, still took CT eight seasons to win his first one and then became one of the goats of the challenge.

42:01 So it's not impossible for Cory if he wins this season, if he wins next season. They should have put I would love it. They should have put Cory on the Battle for New Champion like or the challenge for the new champion that he should have been like that was made for Corey and they just missed that opportunity in my mind. Yeah, probably money couldn't afford it. Okay, let's see let's see what people are saying here. We've got Troy in the house saying, "Hey lads." Hey Troy, welcome to the live. Always good to have you here. Danica saying, "Josh is growing on me. He's less emotional, but I now find him more entertaining than irritating." We spoke We had a whole segment on Josh earlier, Danica. So re- rewind back. You're in sync with us. You're like reading our minds. We think he brings a lot from an entertainment standpoint. Danica saying, "Even if he's not a regular contestant, bring him back in some way." And that's Fidelitea. We agree.

42:52 Saying he will definitely be in the Special Olympics. Danica also says, "I think Leroy will transition to All Stars." He already has. They should have stayed at All Stars, I feel like. Yeah. CT did it to himself. CT was the reason CT didn't win earlier. That's true. And I think Corey was the reason Corey didn't win earlier, either. I couldn't always relate to Corey when he was a young buck and he was a young guy and he did foolish things on the show, but he's matured a lot. He's not the Corey that we knew from back then. Lovable Nikki is saying, "Corey is Mr. MTV. He has to be cast. Corey came in hot and was steadfast. He's a bit better with the political game now." I agree. He's definitely improved a lot over the years up until now. another thing that I wanted to talk about a little bit was the actual elimination. What did you think of the elimination? Going in there, they thought it would have been a hall brawl, maybe.

43:44 I was kind of excited for a hall brawl. Would have been fun to see Josh actually get to throw that big body of his at Corey and see how Corey dealt with it. But as soon as I knew that there was some sort of physical ability where they had to sprint, which Corey is already known as one of the fastest guys off the mark on the challenge. And then they had to be like athleticism where you had to get over a hay bale. I was like this guy's done for. He's done for cuz one thing we've spoken about it so many times, you can train to become fit, you can train to get muscles and to be in shape, but you can't train natural athleticism. That is something you either have or you don't have it. So, I was not shocked that he got blown out of the water 4-0 on this one. This is 100% a challenge that did not go the way production was hoping. Like it was in that Josh when he was on offense, Corey took him out so easily.

44:39 There's zero wrestle. There's no resist like and once you're turning that corner, like it is hard. Like I think it was difficult. And then on Josh's when he's on defense, if you can't get there, like then it's completely boring. Like so it was And also, I don't know if it's better or worse to be honest with you, but the fact that you score a point on defense rather than just denying a point. I was like, we could have had a couple more rounds cuz it was so done like quick anyway. Like why not play you only score a point when you ring the bell and you have to stop them from scoring. We would have got a couple more interactions, fatigue may have played a factor, but we probably would have just seen Josh get completely embarrassed more rounds in a row maybe, I guess. You know. What I what I what I was thinking to myself when I was watching it, I'm going to share something.

45:32 Hopefully we don't get blocked for it. I'll just remove it after the laugh if we do. I was immediately thinking of a scenario where I saw it in a rugby game recently. And the guy was like dodging as the other person was coming in and like Josh almost needed some of this type of skill set. You know, but he doesn't have this athleticism. So, I'll show you what I'm looking at. So, have a look at this guy here. And then the kick over the top, looking for Colby. The little step, you know, when he came across the corner? Like, he was running out and Corey was waiting for him, smashing him. If he could have stepped back for just a second and used Corey's momentum against him. Yeah, so I'll show you again, like with that in mind.

46:23 And then the kick over the top, looking for Colby. Yeah. Is that Step back, let him do his thing. Then move on. Cuz Corey was flying, too. Corey was flying. He was ready for it. And it's like, you're never going to You're not going to outrun Corey. There's no world where Josh you're faster than Corey. So, just slow down a little bit. Let Corey win that battle out to the to the front. And then use your frame, your physical size to try and run over him. But I think it This was a lost cause, regardless. Cuz Corey's also physi- Corey's physically capable. He loses the wrestle, as well. But you're right, the wrestle was probably his best chance. Like, if he got there slow and met Corey, rather than trying to run around He got pushed out. So, it like the angles of it, the physics of it was just completely against him.

47:15 He should He should have waited for him, try to go for the have I would have literally waited for Corey to run out, and then I would have used with Josh I would have used my pace to run at him. While Corey potentially is standing still, run at him at pace. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, but anyways I mean, str- strategy not Josh's strong point, along with coordination and skills. So, you know. No. And I do think he gets frazzled in those situations, as well. Like, he Like, when we talk about And this is where we said that he's not the worst Big Brother competitor ever, because of the other things that he brings to the show from a drama TV character perspective and all of those kind of things. But when you look at his elimination record, I think he's now one from I don't know how many. Like he loses every single elimination he's in. Like when you use the term worst Big Brother competitor, like competitor is going to do a lot of different things there, isn't it?

48:10 Like competitor See what is that record? He may be the worst. competitor One win out of seven. One out of seven eliminations. So that's tough and that's got to do something to you psychologically. That's got to that's got to mess you up. Like when you go into an elimination and you know probably going home here. Like I mean like what's the chances? And this happens to him every single season. He gets there with like people like Corey or bananas Jordan. Like these are all beasts that he's at the end there. Derrick has been shown to be good this season as well. Like I don't think there was any scenario where he could have gotten out of this round to be honest. Josh doesn't Yeah, Josh doesn't win in any There's like hundred scenarios and it's like hundred times out of a hundred he loses. Like you know That would have been a match up.

49:02 King Cash saying I needed to see Corey versus Jordan in this elimination or Cara Maria and Tori. Ooh. it would have been fun, you know? Like that would have been fun. What do you think of Cara Maria and Tori like getting along? I like it. I really do like it. on? And it's like I like It's funny because Cara Maria Cara Maria is a bit of a She's a bit of a freak, you know? Like she can play it up and Tori's a little bit of a freak as well. So I feel like she said, they're kind of different but they have that little bit of an overlap where they both like to have fun and I feel like I don't know what's happened. It's kind of weird but they're getting along. And You know who's been calling it? But you know who's been calling it for a long time? Pauly. Pauly's been saying for the longest period of time if Tori and Cara Maria just got to know each other, they like each other because Paulie's been friends with Tori from before Cara Maria and him being together.

49:56 They were friends prior to that. So, he's always said, "I need these two to be in the same room, they'll get along." So, well, but the whole thing was it was Jordan versus like Jordan was giving so much to Cara Maria. It's how the feud started and Tori was with Jordan. So, kind of they got, you know, caught up in it, but I don't think there was anything between them initially. It was Jordan and Cara who really didn't like each other. But, there's been other moments. There's been a lot of praise that Cara's been giving Tori in confessionals throughout this the season. Tori said similar things about Cara Maria. And I was taking it initially as like I was getting a real like bit of a sad feeling cuz I was like, "Ooh, is this the is this the Is this the handover? Is this the like production making it kind of official what we've been saying for a couple of years?" But, seeing them together, I'm like, "I wonder if this is like in wrestling terms like a like they actually join up and make it to like become a team, a tag team champions of the world." Like them two together would be phenomenal.

51:02 Like We've been speaking a lot about the woman. We've been We've been Yeah, we've been speaking about the woman a lot so far this episode. I just want to say this episode it was it was staggering seeing Rachel, Cara Maria, Tori, Jenny West, Aneesa, still in the game. Michelle, she's there, I guess. But, I let's talk about those four women, the top four women. Rachel, Tori, Cara Maria, and Tori and Jenny West, sorry. The those four. Like, that's crazy that all of them are still there. Like, the only thing that would have made this more stacked this deep in the game is if Laurel Like, I'm not a fan of Laurel, but her being in there would have been absolutely mind-blowing at this stage. The this deep in the game to have so many strong women still in the game. Like the women are really next level this season. Yeah, absolutely.

51:54 And when you think about like the fact that the women that are there, like Michelle, you're saying that she's not in there. She's won three challenge three eliminations this season, including storyline-wise, production must be just like We got Tori versus Casey, best friend against best friend. They love that storyline. And then they got it again with Michelle and Olivia, and Michelle winning her third time, and all that. Like similar to Josh, when you're saying like as far as you don't have to be the best athlete, she's brought a lot this season. We've complimented Michelle a lot. And the other four as far as just being absolute monsters on like I Emily and Casey, I think. Emily Schromm and Casey would have been two more I would have thought if I had them in this in this top pack with Laurel.

52:44 Like Yeah. You couldn't have asked for a more stronger finals. You know what I mean? Yeah, 100%. I do need to ask you before I forget, what did you think of Rachel's move here in this episode? With the history that Rachel and Bananas have, Bananas wasn't the most complimentary of Rachel back in the day. They showed us the flashback in that season. she didn't hold that against him. He's shown loyalty to her in this season, worked with her, and she's repaying the favor here. Did you like the move from Rachel this deep in the game? I mean, this is the point where you now have to show your hand, right? Because you can't save both Cory and Bananas, so you've got to choose your person in this moment. And she ended up saying she's with Bananas and Jordan. Yeah. Yeah, like it she You're right, she has to show her hand. I did find it interesting. I assumed just because of time and age that there was some sort of stronger connection than what ended up being the case.

53:41 There was one season together where they were actually against each other and they've never been on another season since. But they obviously do like Bananas has been with her at the workout like her workouts and she at the gym and all that. But I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing. But the moment where Bananas like that's kind of that's like the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. And it was a real thing. And when I say I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing because I think Rachel kind of let down the mask a little bit. In wrestling, there's a thing called kayfabe. It's protecting the image of like how wrestling is real when it's really not, right? It's still upholding the image. And actually letting on that never working on a season, never doing anything, but actually saying that Bananas is a good guy like because she knows him in real life not from working with him on the show. And saying you're a really good person.

54:32 I was like, "Ooh, should you have actually said that?" Letting on a little bit too much. Is he a good person in real life? And he's been putting on this show the entire time? Like what the hell? Yeah. I wouldn't put it past him. Like sometimes I do think it's a little bit of an act. He knows how to play it up for the cameras. But it's interesting you mentioned that. I found the line where she said, you know, Bananas is kind of like that guy where you know deep down she treats him like she would treat her kids. Like I'm not going to agree with everything he says. Some of it's problematic and sometimes I just have to turn a blind eye to it because I still love the guy and you know, he's got good attributes to him. So I think that's kind of how you have to take Bananas. Bananas will do him and he will do controversial things. He will say things. But a lot of the time people who do that This is getting real psychological. This is really getting real psychological. But they never got that attention as a kid or they were the outcast as a kid.

55:23 And now they're putting on this show to be a Bravo alpha personality so that they can get the attention. But deep down they're actually good, you know. So I feel like there's a lot deeper with someone like Bananas than what we probably will ever know, you know? Yeah, sometimes they go on reality shows, sometimes they start podcasts. True. Hey. We definitely for every finger we point at someone else, there's three pointing right back at us, right? So, that's We're like the lowest of the low. When we don't get casted on the shows, we just talk about them. let's see what a few people have said here since we went on a bit of a run. We've got Troy saying Cory needs to work on his puzzle, which I believe he has after watching the season. We both agree with you on that, Troy. We definitely have noticed that Cory is getting better at the puzzles. and yes, that is definitely something he needs to work on.

56:14 Danica saying Josh didn't think it through, something he really does. It's true. King Cash is only chance Josh had was jog and make it a strength comp and big body him. Exactly. Yeah. King Cash said, "I needed to see Cory versus Jordan in this elimination." Cory got wrestling, but he's short. Like Cory's way strong, but he's little, right? He's 5'9, 5'10. Like it couldn't have gone worse like if he tried something different in my mind. It couldn't have gone You lost 4-0. Yeah, that's true. Just change it up. Don't do the same thing. And the moment where he bloody tripped and fell over the hay bale, I was just like, "The guy's been doing so much workouts." Like one of my favorite things to do, especially because I do the Spartan races, is I do a lot of like own bodyweight training and a lot of like box jumps and what is called plyometrics to make sure that I can jump over things.

57:08 It's like did this guy never do a box jump in his life? Like it's like you're training in the gym so much. Like I say this from my chair that I very rarely leave and I am not athletic in the slightest, but you see his like run even, right? Like you can see when someone runs that it's like is like oh, it's like looks white. Yeah, he's So here's a here's a here's a important question. Like is this doing damage to Rachel's brand as a personal trainer seeing Josh's performance? Like he looks good, but it's not functional. You can't You can't train athleticism, man. Like if someone's uncoordinated, how do you like put that into them with weights? Like that's a tough thing to do, you know? I like your I like your answer. My answer would definitely get people hating on us. We might get reported on to the Discord for that comment. Cuz I know that some people have been doing the Rachel workouts at home.

58:01 Imagine what he would be like if she hadn't have helped him. Yeah, that's true. Definitely would have been in a worse place. He looks better physically now. Yeah. He wouldn't have got to the hay bales. Yeah. He would have been over before he got there. King Cash is saying production showed us feed rather than Cara and Tori building friendship. It's crazy, I agree. Totally crazy. King Cash is saying it's Josh and last 0.8 and throwing a banana and burning that bridge. Oh, yeah. I don't think he would ever have gone against Bananas in that moment. He felt like he needed to repay Bananas after betraying him in USA. King Cash is saying who you think production wants to win this season? Bananas. And Rachel, maybe? Like I feel like production is pro old school. Maybe Cara? I mean, they would love that.

58:52 Yeah. Like I feel like the women is wide open. I think if it's if Okay, let's take this question seriously. If you're production, who do you want to win? It's a big marquee season. It's season 40. It's one that people will probably remember as a big marquee season. You want the goat to win it, Bananas, because that would continue to build that and solidify that legacy, or you want someone like Jordan who is pushing for goat status to win it so that he's in the conversation. So, I would put Bananas and Jordan at the same top of production's wish list to win this season for the main. the only one to win it Okay, we'll come back to that and you can tell me your hypothesis. I think it's either Jordan or Bananas. Either one of those two would continue to build their legacy and they're both big enough players to be goat status. For the females, I think Rachel, Tori, or Cara Maria, any of those three, it's a win for them.

59:46 If they if they have them, I don't think they want Jenny West to win cuz they don't want Jenny West to come back every season. They're not investing in her. I don't think maybe Michelle will be excited, but do you really want the up-and-comer to win a season like this or someone that yeah, I don't I just don't see it. And Aneesa's also not a part of the plan. So, to me there's three potential women in the in the conversation and two men. Yeah, I mean, I think it would make a great story, like you said, as far as building that legacy and Jordan starts knocking on the door, if not like really opening it to Bananas' status there as goat. But, the fact that Bananas is still hanging around at this late stage makes him, you know, keeps building. You know what I mean? Like he's still adding to it. He hasn't stopped, which is impressive. So, you're right either way, but I do think if they had a choice, which they don't pull puppet strings.

1:00:37 We're not suggesting that at all, but I think if they could get exactly how they want it, Jordan, I don't think he's as committed to coming back Yeah, and they can't control him. They can't control him. he wants. Yeah, but he's got his race car thing, like he rocked up late to this season because of it. He said he's not going to I think he got I think they got him this season because it was such a big thing like being 40, but I don't think he's as much in it now. When the Horacio thing happened, he was vocal. He was talking against production. He's done it many times in the past. He's not in production's pocket, like Bananas. Bananas is a company man. Like, you know, if they were still handing out golden Rolex watches, then he would get the golden Rolex watch for the service that he's put in. Yeah, and I think I think they could I think they like Kyland. I think they could I really they would love Kyland to season 40.

1:01:27 Not season 40. kick off the next generation kind of thing in Crown like this fighting new champion that they've got when I'm sure they would have loved it if it was a Horacio or a Nurys or something like that, but the fact that Kyland is still here, I'm sure they'd be like, "If he could win and beat these guys, then we've got him for the next X amount of years." your point. Yeah. Yeah. From that perspective, I think, but as far as just if I was a story writer, yeah, like Bananas versus Jordan winning and Cory as well. I think Cory's got a chance as well. Yeah, Cory would be Cory would be great as well, actually. Yeah, you're right. King Kyland Cory would be a massive one. Yeah. And to win it in his 40th, like Tori said, like imagine if you won it this season. Like that's of all the seasons to win your first, like after all this time, like that's huge.

1:02:19 That is like, you know, legendary stuff. You've got a fan here in the live. Hey. Troy's saying, "I believe you can train athleticism. do gymnastics." I agree with you on that, Troy. I think what we're getting at is like coordination. Like it's very hard, like you know, you get those athletes that they can't catch a ball cuz they just don't have hand-eye coordination or they just can't they stumble over things. I think that's maybe something that he's got. I can't see Troy doing gymnastics with me. Yeah. YouTube video in itself, man. Yeah. Yeah. A year in the life of Cory becoming a gymnast. The fattest ninja warrior. Hey, there's a market there, mate. There's a market. I'm telling you. I think that's it for this week. I think we've spoken about all the big things unless there's anything you wanted to discuss burningly from your side.

1:03:12 Do you feel like there's something we didn't touch on? No, but I said, fun episode, man. Like even without a lot of like drama, without a lot of crazy stuff, pretty straightforward pretty straightforward, but just again, like, we're enjoying it. It's such a fun time when there's silly things happening, good things happening. It's just overall a good season. And that's weird to say. Yeah. So, for me, it's weird. I started this live saying that I wasn't that high on it. It was probably one of my least favorite episodes of the of the season. It was a little bit more everything felt very predictable throughout this episode. Like, there was never Narrative wise, though. Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. But now But now that we've talked through the episode, then there was actually so much that we could dive into. I was like, "Actually, you know what? I was being a little bit harsh on my criticism. This was a decent episode." And you know, when this is like a Like, how do I put it?

1:04:04 Like, it's not even a low, but if this is like the bottom for a season where it's very predictable and stuff, and I'm comparing it to other shows, still a hell of a lot better than a lot of other things that are on TV at the moment, right? And I'm enjoying I'm enjoying the challenge. Like, production keep doing you. time for like, isn't it? Yeah. But and with the crazy thing is, we're in the minority. There are still four to five times more people watching Survivor than The Challenge, right? So, it's crazy to me. Like, not enough people know about The Challenge. We're doing We're doing the lord's work now. We're doing the lord's work. 100%. All right. Well, everybody in the live, thank you so much for jumping in so early in the morning if you're in the US. thank you, Troy, for jumping in and also giving us your thoughts on this season. We'll definitely have to get you back. Maybe at the end of the season we'll do a full recap, Troy, with you back on the show as well, if you're keen, obviously, and if you've got the time.

1:05:01 But for now, this is going to be the live for this week. There's no live this week, no Challenge for those who are not aware because of Thanksgiving over in the US, but we will catch you next week. Sorry, what was that? Happy Thanksgiving. Yeah, happy Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, by the way, is my favorite US holiday. I don't actually partake in like any of the other stuff, like, you know, even with like the trick-or-treat, you know, Halloween and that stuff. I'm like, "Ah, didn't grow up with it." But, I feel like if I could steal any holiday from the US, it would be Thanksgiving, cuz I feel like we should be more grateful in life for people around us, for the things that we have, and people always look at the negative. So, I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday to think about the things that, you know, you have in life. And I hope that you all enjoy it with your family and friends over there. I will, if I ever have my own family, Kona, I will make sure that I would celebrate Thanksgiving with them that as well, cuz I think it's a really positive holiday from that aspect.

1:05:58 If you started off here. More positivity, more holidays for us, the better. 100%. Yeah, the future is bright, Kona. Talk to everybody next week. Bye.