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Hey, thanks for making it back to the studio.Let's do some pod crashing.Episode number 349 is with Devin Simone from the MTV podcast, The Challenge.I'm doing well.How are you?
Absolutely excited to talk with you because the Olympics are over and the challenge is on.
Yes, which is basically almost like the same thing, right?
Right. I'll tell you what the one thing that in getting into this and the thing about it is when you go to iHeartRadio You can listen to past seasons of MTV's official challenge podcast, but man you guys give us the dirt while cleaning up the house
We do, we love that.I love to tell our guests, don't worry, no one's listening.Like just tell us what really happened.Don't worry, no one's listening.Meanwhile, millions are listening, but it's great.We love it.
We get them to open up in a way because they're competitors, but they're real people too.They're human too.
And there's moments of fear, uncertainty, excitement, flirtation, you name it, going on in the house and having lived in that house before multiple times, as well as my co-host Davon, we understand that.And so we appreciate
giving a platform for the challengers to be able to spill all the tea.And I know the fans love it, too.
Well, the two of you have this amazing way of getting into the story, and it's not through pressure or anything like that.I swear it starts with you guys listening to them.And then all of a sudden you walk right into that story.
That's so kind, especially from a great interviewer like you, Arrow.I really do appreciate that.
We try to give them a place to tell their story and make, I mean, I want to say allow them to not feel judged, although occasionally we'll call them out when they do something a little wild or we don't agree with, but they know it's coming from a place of love, almost like we're sisters to the cast.
It's been so wonderful.And we hear consistently from the cast, too, that they love coming on our show.
We've kind of the official podcast has kind of become an additional cast member, I'd say, because in the last few seasons, sometimes maybe some of the feuds that you see happen happen because of something someone said on the podcast that then someone else heard and then they're talking about it.
So we definitely get in the mix of it.
I was going to ask you about that.What happens when you say too much and it gets into the wrong ears?
I mean, is there any way to say too much?I don't think there is.We always say, and we get called out sometimes too.I know Michelle came on a couple of seasons ago and she's like, hey, I heard that you said this on the podcast.And so, and it's great.
It's honest, it's upfront.It's a little messy, but in like the juicy good kind of way.And it always ends with love, which we really like.And I think that the challenger should just be communicating more anyway.
So, hey, if you say it on the podcast, then yes, go talk about it in the next season. Well, you know what?
Before an elimination, do you go through that moment where when all of a sudden it is put on you, you can start hearing your heartbeat in your ears.I mean, it's like in other words, you're under the scope right now.Oh, my God.
How are we going to come with back with the line here?
I don't think so, because I try to be as authentic as possible, and I was the same way when I was competing on the show.
Also, I'd have to say, Aero, nothing is more heart racing or blood pressure increasing than TJ yelling start at the beginning of a final, or having to summit a snow-covered active volcano, which, yes, I did, or run 22 miles in the desert in Africa, which I've also done because of this show.
Yeah, once you do that or jumping out of a plane over the Kalahari Desert, you know, once you do that, you're kind of like, hey, I, you know, I can handle anything.
Would you say that everybody who's on the show throughout the years, throughout the eras and things, it's all been about an addiction to excitement because it seems like you guys are always on the edge of, yeah, let's do it.
My husband would say yes, if you asked him.I got a call to do compete in the challenge just last year, literally a couple months before my wedding.And I really thought about it, and I almost didn't.He was so supportive.Fortunately, I said no.
In hindsight, I am so glad I said no.It's very risky.But there is, it's just, there's this environment about it.It's really hard.It's one of the hardest things any of us have ever done time and time again.
And yet when we're away from it, we miss it because When do you have an opportunity in life to really push yourself and see what you're capable of?
Like I think for any of us, we don't really know what we're capable of until you're put in that situation.And the challenge is an excellent way to explore that.And with the 40th season being here, I mean, it's just amped up across all levels.
Plus you have 50 year olds competing against 20 year olds.You have people that laid the groundwork for reality TV competing against people who grew up watching those very same people.And it just makes for, something unlike anything we've ever seen.
How are they going to mix together during this 40th season?And the reason why is because, I mean, at my age, I choose to go listen to the younger generation because they've got new things to do.They've got new ways to conquer those mountains.
Yeah, they mix, I'd say, okay, so MTV was gracious enough to fly Dave Vaughn and me out to Vietnam for the kickoff party, sort of the glamorous part before competition begins, which thank you to MTV because they know I like the glamorous part much more than I like running across the desert.
So we got to be there in person and see as the cast got to meet each other for the first time, because when they first fly over, they're sort of sequestered, right?So that they don't necessarily know who's competing.
They don't know who's going to be on what teams.And then we gathered them in a house.I believe if you did miss the kickoff, you can actually still watch it on YouTube.So definitely check it out, the launch special.
But while there, it was interesting because You know, I've been in the real world family now.This this month marks my 16th anniversary of when I was on real world Brooklyn.So I've known many of these people for many years.
And then doing the podcast, I've gotten an opportunity to spend time with or talk to some of the newer people who are we've seen in more recent seasons.
And so seeing the in-between, you know, we brokered some introductions while there of newer people who were nervous but wanted to talk to some of the Arrow One people.
The Arrow One people, they have a pretty tight-knit bond, but I say most of them have a pretty good head on their shoulders and are like you, Arrow, where they recognize the value of listening to others, listening to the younger generations.
And then it's crazy because you have someone like a Derek on who has a kid in high school, and then you're competing against people who are in their 20s.It's just really such an interesting dynamic, but I don't think
While the running joke so far in the podcast has been that era one is most likely to go to bed at 8 p.m.compared to the other eras.And I love to tease Johnny Bananas about, you know, needing his cane.
I don't anticipate that we'll see a ton of ageism in the sense that era one's tough and they are some tough competitors.They know the game very well.
And I do think there's an overall respect from the younger generations, like the era fours, the era threes for the era one competitors.
I've been blessed with the opportunity to share lots of conversations with Johnny.My God, I swear that he comes onto that show and everybody gets to take a piece of him home because he just knows how to really get into people's lives.
He really does.I owe a lot in a way to Johnny Bananas.
So I actually decided to even be a part of this family or audition for the real world some 16 years ago because Bananas, I was going to school in Florida at USF and he came down to host a party, a club night one night there.
And I was sort of responsible for making sure he didn't get into any trouble.And when I met him, he took a bite out of my ice cream cone within five minutes of meeting him without asking.I literally just met this man.
We're riding in my little Volkswagen Beetle.I'm taking him to the club and I look over and there's a bite mark. Could my ice cream come?And I remember thinking, this man is something like there is something about this guy.
And Kellyanne was also there.And we see her on this season of The Challenge, too.And and I remember meeting them and thinking, you know what, if they can do it, I can do it.
And I went home that night and the very next day I applied to be on the next season of Real World and the rest is history.So I've known him a very long time.He is great television, entertaining.You love him or you hate him.
I will say he's incredibly smart. You've probably gotten a sense of that in talking with him.And he is, I'd say that through and through, if he rides for you, he rides for you.
Like if he really deep down respects you, he's going to ride for you, but you got to be able to call him out on his nonsense.I think he gets away with a lot because people get afraid to call him out, but he respects you if you do.
I swear he wants to be called out.That's the reason why he keeps taking those chances.He wants someone to say, hey, hey, hey.
Absolutely, absolutely.So in a really weird way, would you say that we've watched you grow up on reality TV?
You sort of have, you know, my dog is turning 16 in about a week or so.And I got him on the real world Brooklyn and we're throwing a sweet 16 for him.We got him a car and everything.Don't judge me, I'm a little wild.Hence why I was on reality TV.
And yeah, it's so special and so interesting.And I think that's true for so many of these people we're watching, right?Like we've seen like Anissa and Rachel, kind of grow up together and now they're here and Rachel's married with Kit.
Like, it's just wild seeing how far so many of us have come.And it's such a special family and place to be that it's really exciting to be able to still be a part of it.I'm honored.
And to be a part of season 40 and get to watch how this is going to play out.Like, I really think this is going to be one of those legendary seasons.
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What, you still haven't sold yours?You told me about it months ago.I just... Is the offer good?
Don't have another car yet?
I could trade it in for this car I love.
Come on, what are we waiting for?
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So when you're in one of those big challenges, do you take notes?I mean, because I'm a daily writer.I've got to break it down.I call it defragging because I want to make sure that I'm wiser the next time that something happens.
Do you write anything down?
You're very responsible, Errol.I don't know if anyone has told you that.You're very responsible, far more responsible than I. No, I don't write things down.Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to read it, because my handwriting is awful.
You're not allowed any sort of digital devices in the house.You're not even really supposed to have books in the house, because that's not entertaining to watch on television, right?So, hints why there's a lot of arguing.
If you guys have ever wondered, like, why do these people argue so much?Why are they arguing over food?Because there's nothing else to do in the house.Or if you're wondering, why did Devin have a funeral for her wig in Uruguay?
Cause there's nothing else to do in the house.Cause they take everything.Cause they want you to interact.I don't, a lot of people do take notes, which is very smart, but you have to be careful.
We saw on season one, I believe it was season one of USA or maybe no, no, no.Maybe it was right.Spies, lies and allies.
Either way, we saw a cast member, Michaela come in and she took notes on her first day and she was eliminated very early on because people found those notes and said she was sort of making a hit list.So if you do take notes,
Be very careful about where you store them.I'd say mental notes are kind of better.I tend to operate on vibes.But and I think banana people like bananas operate on vibes.Laurel notoriously has had hit lists that we've seen play out in the show.
So it really just depends on the castmate.
So no digital devices.I mean, right there, that's got to be a weakness for the younger generation, this latest era, because I mean, what I've never seen a younger generation child without a digital device.
Yeah, I didn't even think about that era, but that's true, right?Millennials are used to both sides, right?Whereas Gen Z is not.
So yeah, I mean, it hasn't stopped them so far because they do so well on the show in general, but it will be interesting seeing that play out this season where you have the people, even borderline Gen X who are
used to just entertaining themselves and not having, you know, social media and all of that stuff.But yeah, that's not you don't have that in the house so that you really can interact with one another.And you don't really have privacy.
So the house is designed to be pretty open, like your privacy to sleep and do all those things, of course.But it's open.So when people are having conversations, when people are plotting and planning, you're hearing it all.
So it makes for very interesting conversations and deliberate deliberations when elimination time comes around.
What do you do when you have those moments where you just need some me time?I mean, can you walk away or do you have to sit there and put up with everybody around you until it's bedtime?
So I actually learned this after my time competing on the challenge, but I'm actually more of an introvert than an extrovert, believe it or not.And so what I would do, I was in the challenge free agents.
So one thing people may not know, Arrow, is like once people start getting eliminated from the house, so the houses are always super huge, right?And people are spread out in the different rooms and they fill them up.
But then as people start to get eliminated, the houses become a little too big for the number of cast members are there.So they start to, shut off portions of the house.
They start to shut off wings and they make people move over so that they're on the same side so that they can interact.So on free agents, our wing of the house, everyone pretty much got eliminated except for two people, myself and someone else.
So we had to move over to the other side of the house.So I ended up moving into the boys' room that had bananas, it had CT, it had Leroy.It was a lot of loud snoring.Let me just tell you, it was a lot of loud snoring in that house.
And I think it had Kahuda in there as well.And I was the only girl in that room.And so when I needed a break, I was on the top bunk above bananas.I would just go to the room and either snuggle up under my Snuggie or I would do makeup lessons.
and invite all the girls in the room.And so we'd come and we would just do our makeup.The boys were amused by that because it was all a bunch of estrogen now in their very male oriented room.
But it was a way to kind of just have some fun and a little bit of peace and nobody's arguing over lip gloss and blush.It was just You know, fun.So that's the way that I would sort of escape that and stay out of the fights.
Some people probably need to take that up a little bit more so they too can stay out of the fights.But some people lean right in.Like we see Amanda this season.She's a fan favorite and that girl does not shy away from an argument.
She likes to lean right into a fight every single time.
You know, you're politicking.I mean, you like to shake hands and kiss babies then don't you with that makeup thing going on?
I do.You don't tell my secrets.
In case I come back, don't tell all my secrets.But yes, it served me well, I'd say.I think my record is, well, one, I've never lost an elimination.
I've never been voted into an elimination either, which is a feat for people who've competed on this show. You know, yeah, I think it's and I've made it to a final both times.
And so I think it's my relationship with the cast in general and just vibes going off of vibes and and also just trying to be a decent person.I really love.I think something we're going to see interesting about this season is there's an emphasis on
playing the game with a certain level of integrity.And as you watch, you'll see what I mean.And I've been championing that for so many years saying, hey, you don't have to be a backstabber.You don't have to be too faced to win.
I genuinely believe that.And so when I played, certainly I'm not perfect.People love me or they hate me.But I tried to be pretty straightforward with the moves I would make in the game.
I love that attitude because my philosophy or mantra is to kill them with kindness.If somebody's being a real jerk around you, oh, I'm going to get you with kindness.I'm going the opposite direction with you, dude.
Yeah, exactly.I mean, exactly.Like I, again, I'm not afraid to shy away or say, hey, this is what I think, but you'll always know where I stand.
So, you know, back when I would eliminate or vote people in or something like that, I'd give them a heads up.And that's something we don't often see on the show, but it does happen.
There are certain ones who have kind of a code where if I'm going to actually say your name, in deliberation, I'm going to let you know in advance.It's sort of like an integrity thing.And so I played that way.
I believe you can play that way and make it really far in the game.And so, and I think we might see sort of an emphasis in that this season, which will be really interesting because there's other people who love to do, you know, the two-faced thing.
They love to say, oh my God, you're amazing.And then they're trying to, you know, strategize to get you out.So it'll be really interesting to see this play out.
So, how do you notch someone down?In martial arts, we always had the yellow belts wanting to take on us black belts.And the thing is, is that, you know, you sat there and you go, man, I don't want to really do anything with you.
I mean, I can show you new tricks at your level, but so what do you, with all of that experience on that show, on season number 40, there's got to be some of those, you know, like you said, Generation Z that thinks they know it all and you got to notch them down.
I mean, the best way in the challenge to really give someone a reality check is to meet them in the arena, right?To meet them on the elimination floor.
Now, between me and you, I don't ever want to be on the elimination floor, because those are some tough competitors.But that's one of the things that you can't dispute.
It's like, hey, when you're going head to head in an elimination, it doesn't matter who's taller, who said what.We saw that in free agents some years ago when Jordan
Iconically challenged bananas and he basically Jordan threw himself into elimination against bananas and Bananas ultimately won now.We've seen Jordan come back and win it all multiple times since but Yeah, it's it's one of those things the new guys.
I think their mistake will be underestimating some of the older players who've been around for a while, because some of those older players have been just sitting back and training for a moment like this.
So I wouldn't put it past them to, you know, knock heads in this game.
See, I would walk around and I would find out how they were breathing, if they were breathing from their chest or from their diaphragm.And if they were in their diaphragm, that meant I had to have a lot of focus.
But if they were breathing from their chest, mine, you're mine, you're going down.Second round.
You're so smart.Okay.Wait, wait.How do you tell that they're bleeding?Okay.Okay.From their diaphragm.So if it, what, if their shoulders are raising when they're breathing.
When they're breathing.Yeah.When you can physically see them breathing in their chest, then that means that they're tired.They're tired.Or they, or they're not going to, because you've got to have all of that air down there in that diaphragm.
If you want to go the rounds.
Yeah, okay, this is so smart.Okay, thank you.I'm banking things in case I ever go back and compete.And then for the competitors that come on the podcast that are really nice, we'll give your insight too, because that's really helpful.
So good.So we got to talk about your team teaming up with Dayvonna.And the reason why is because so many jocks have to spend year after year after year honing their craft.How is it that you and Dayvonna get along so well and sound so well together?
Oh, I appreciate that.You know, a day is like a sister.I love and adore her.And she actually came to.So I'm a matchmaker in my real life.And she came to a speaking event that I was doing in L.A.as some years ago.
Well, we actually met because they used to do these mini challenges that were available on MTV dot com.And I was sort of the T.J.in them.So they do these competitions at Universal Studios, which is a lot of fun.
It was sort of the impetus for the challenge.All stars, actually.But Dave Vaughn competed in one of those. And so we got to meet then and kind of hit it off.And then she came to a speaking engagement.
So when they had us do the podcast together, the brains behind it, they're really geniuses.And it was just natural.And I love that we got to spend time together in Vietnam.I made her go on a dessert tour with me.
So we went and walked around and tried different desserts, which is lovely.Yeah, I just love her.
So that really helps when you have someone who and we balance each other out, you know, Devon will go for the jugular in a more probably more direct way than I will.And sometimes I'm the nice one sometimes she is, but it's a whole lot of fun.
We both have relationships inside of that house that I think helps allow the cast members to feel comfortable enough to share things that they don't on other podcasts or that they don't even on the show.And, you know, we try to broker peace.
We actually went in this season giving advice to the likes of like an Amanda and a Cara of like, maybe you should play nice.And not everyone took our advice.We gave advice to Nereese this season.We gave advice to Josh.
We're seeing some of our advice play out and some of it not so much.But yeah, it's wonderful working with her and it's fun being the dynamic duo.
Wow.You've got to come back to this show anytime in the future.The door is always going to be open for you.
Thank you so much.I love your insight, by the way, please.So if you have more tips, Arrow, just slide them my way because, you know, in case I ever get back in the ring, I'm going to come to you for coaching.
You be brilliant today, OK?
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What?I told you about it two days ago.
When you know, you know.You know, I'm even dropping it off at one of those sweet car vending machines and getting paid today.
Great deal. Come on, what's your heart saying?
You're right.When you know, you know.Sold.
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