Today, Mike Bloom, Jessica Liese, and special guest, Taran Armstrong, draft teams for the upcoming season of The Amazing Race which features teams of former Big Brother players.
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Mike Blume here, welcoming you back to another Amazing Race 38 pre season podcast. Of course, we are but one week away at this point from the premiere of the highly anticipated 38th season of the Amazing Race coming to our screens via CBS on Thursday, September 25th at 9:30pm and the reason why it's so highly anticipated is because if you've been living under a rock, you might not know we've got a full fledged reality TV crossover coming this fall. While Survivor will be airing in its stride, as it usually does in the fall, the other two big reality shows on CBS are working in tandem alongside it, as this season will feature teams comprised of at least one one former house guest from Big Brother. If you missed it before, I did a whole entire cast reveal podcast with Taryn Armstrong a few weeks ago. Earlier this week I got together with Jessica Leese as well as Big Brother 24 winner and one of the contestants on this upcoming season of the Amazing Race, Taylor Hale. There we went into a bit of Taylor's prep process, her preseason mentalities, as well as why Big Brother fans should check out the Amazing Race. For those of you who haven't watched the show in a long time or may not have at all, hopefully that was informative. And of course Taylor will be one of the people we'll be talking about in today's podcast. We're doing an RHAP classic people a draft. So I got together with our Amazing Race chief correspondent Jessica Leese and our Big Brother chief correspondent Taryn Armstrong. Given the unique quality of this cast to do our own draft of the 13 teams racing around Europe on this European adventure, I guess that literally is like the subtitle of this season. I think it's now in the promotional artwork. Officially European Adventure Phil Cogan's European Vacation, I suppose is coming to our screens next Thursday. And so we talk through all of the teams both as Big Brother players in their past, as well as what that might translate to from a present or future perspective as Amazing Racers. We get into the partners of these houseguests as well. Now going to put a caveat on this. So we recorded this podcast all the way back in March of 2025. We had a feeling that the excitable energy of the Big Brother fandom might mean that given again the unique quality of this season's cast, it might lead to once filming starts to begin and the race kicks off, there might be more information out there than usual as to who's doing well, who's not doing well, etc. And we wanted to have as much of a spoiler free set of, you know, cards going into this draft. And so we recorded this podcast six months ago at this point and we are unearthing the time capsule to bring our thoughts on these 13 teams in the moment having no information about what happens on the season. Now that being said, we are going off of the information that was given to us at that time. So there might be things like names, ages, occupations, specifically of the loved ones the people who have not been on reality TV before. That might be a bit different than what's been listed by cbs. Apologies for the discrepancies. That's just the information that we were going off of at the time. And of course, as I mentioned before, in just one week we're going to have a premiere on our hands. You're going to have several podcasts on your hands, or eyes or ears, as it were. Of course, every week, Jess and myself will be recapping that episode of the Amazing Race. Hope to get those podcasts up by Wednesday at the latest and we are going to be joined by quite the familiar face in a recurring basis, Rob Sestri. Nino is making his grand return to Amazing Race podcasting. He'll be showing up several times throughout the season on the recaps. Of course, Jess is going to have exit press with every team that's been eliminated this fall on a weekly basis. Still trying to workshop other ideas, other possible shows that might be going on. Because again, this is a rather important season, I would say, especially in the grand spectrum of RHAP and what we cover. So make sure you don't miss a second of it. Weknow amazing race.com to make sure you subscribe to our Amazing Race only podcast feed, which has all of the shows I just mentioned, including other stuff that might pop up over the course of the season. Or if you want to watch the video versions of all of these podcasts, you can go to watchrajp.com or or search Rob has a podcast in YouTube. Well, my shovel has been positively dirtied with being able to dig up this podcast that we recorded but six months ago. Oh, we were so young and naive back then. But myself, Jess Lees, Taron Armstrong, sat down back in March to draft the 13 teams of the Amazing Race 38, hoping that we could get our hands on the duo that will cross the finish line in first place. Who will be correct in their predictions, who will be horribly wrong. We shall see in due time over the course of the fall. With all that being said, let's take a trip back to the past and enjoy the draft. Hi everybody and welcome to a very special podcast here on we know reality tv as we've got Amazing Race in our Big Brother or Big Brother in our Amazing Race, the veritable chocolate and peanut butter of cbs. Not to be confused with the show that had contestants and peanut butter. The other two we're talking about Big Brother, the Amazing Race. They're together for the Amazing Race 38 and so we are bringing you a draft. As today, myself, an illustrious panel guest, going to go through the 13 teams of big Brother alumni and their loved ones racing together around the world. And again, to speak to the true merger of these two veteran CBS reality shows, I find it only appropriate that we bring in the best in the business when it comes to this network and these respective shows. First, our Amazing Race correspondent, Jessica Lees. Hi, Jess.
C
Hi, Mike. This is going to be fun. I don't really have a lot of familiarity with the Big Brother Rahat people, so this is new territory for me.
B
All right, well, we shall see if it's new territory on the opposite side for this guy. Our chief Big Brother correspondent, Taron Armstrong Strong.
A
Hello. I think the first thing I want to do is apologize on behalf of all of the Big Brother people for what is about to happen this season.
B
Oh, my God. Yeah. I mean, so cards up completely. We are recording this as the crow flies, or the crew flies, as it were, on March 21, 2025. Earlier this week, the cast of the Amazing Race 38 was heavily speculated and released to the public. And look, there's a lot of things to love about the Big Brother community, but y' all are not used to watching a show that maybe films ahead of time. And so already we have maybe started to see that some people are maybe leaking some stuff that has happened on the racecourse. So we figured before spoilers really, you know, pervade our brains, let's get together, let's record a draft unspoiled about how we think these teams are going to do and then just kind of put it away in the vault until this comes out. We don't know when the season's being released. At the time of recording this, it could be six months from now. It could be almost a year from now. All we know at this point is that Bill Cogan recorded most recently Jess video from the starting line of season 38, which I believe is in the Netherlands. And there was a little bit of a tease as to what's to come by saying that these teams are, quote, out of the house. And CBS really hit the nail on the head with an emoji of a key and a sideways eyes icon. Okay, well, let me. Let me ask your opinion here because again, to have you and Taran sort of come in here from opposite sides before we get into the draft proper. Give me a bit of your familiarity with Big Brother, especially as of late, considering that we're going to be talking about a lot of recent teams and what Are your overall thoughts about this general concept of a theme?
C
Well, I think there's good things and bad things. I. I'm not going to. All right, full disclosure. I don't watch Big Brother. Except when I do, I will occasionally. Basically, my involvement with Big Brother is. Has been limited to. It will be the summer and nothing else is going on, and my social media feeds will be saturated with it. So I will start watching it just to see who these people are. And then typically, either I get distracted by some other shiny thing or something terrible and offensive happens that makes it impossible for me to continue watching one or two specific people on my screen, and I abandon it. And then I have had a few interactions with some of our more devoted podcast listeners that feel like maybe I shouldn't be an RHAP correspondent if I do not watch Big Brother. And I'm like, no, I'm going to watch the shows I cover. But I would never presume to come on a Big Brother podcast and tell you what I think anybody's doing because I don't watch the feeds. I pretty much can't keep up with three episodes a week of something, let alone all of the live feed camera stuff, because I have a job and a family and hobbies. And if your job and family and hobbies is Big Brother, I'm not judging because my job and family and hobbies is tied into a different CBS reality show. It's fine. It's cool. We all love tv. But I will say mostly Big Brother contestants and alumni that I know are people that have come in from either of the other two flagship CBS reality shows. And I have some passing familiarity with other.
B
The.
C
With others because I see it in my feeds. But I'm coming at this very much as an Amazing Race person, and we are talking about a show called the Amazing Race that I do know a lot about. So bear with me here. I'm going to be talking about these people in terms of how they are, how I think they're going to be as Amazing Race contestants, and hopefully I'm going to be relying on the two of you to let me know how their Big Brother performance might inform that.
B
Yeah, Taren, same question to you, I guess, on the opposite perspective. What's your familiarity fandom level with the Amazing Race? And when you first heard about this concept, how did you feel about it?
A
I mean, I, I've. I've always been a big Amazing Race fan. I, I've. I've watched all the seasons. I've. I've rewatched most of the seasons. However, I will say I've forgotten most of it, so it's okay. Yeah. But I would say more recently, I have been less invested in the Amazing Race than I used to be. But. But I do, you know, I do enjoy it when. When I see people I recognize. Certainly it was very, very fun to watch Claire and Derek, who are friends of mine, go on to win. Um, so that was really cool. And when I heard about this, it was. Honestly, I was mostly just like, this is just an opportunity for more of my friends to win a million dollars. So that was cool.
C
And.
A
And my other thought was Amazing Race fans are probably gonna hate this because I know, or at least I think I know that they don't usually love alliances and other kinds of things, so. And then, you know, Big Brother fans in general probably approach this differently than Amazing Race Race fans will. There might be a lot of weirdness there, but I do think I. I heard a lot of talk about, like, why Big Brother. Like, this doesn't make a lot of sense. I think there's probably, from my perspective, a couple things going on. One is that the Traders is a massive hit, and they're pulling in reality contestants from other shows, and that's really successful for them. And I imagine that CBS is trying to get on again on that a little bit as well as just, like, keep their people in their environment. And then, two, I believe Big Brother is the sort of the winningest show on Amazing Race, so they do have a little bit more history for, like, there to be, like, a Big Brother season. The Big Brother contestants have done historically fairly well on the show.
C
Well, this is something that I think. I think I. I agree with 100 with this, that Big Brother people are very good on the Amazing Race typically. And this is something. I think, Mike, you and I have talked about this a little bit. If we have the choice between one big brother team and 13 normal teams or 14 big brother teams, I kind of feel like this is a better situation because it levels the playing field somewhat. I think anytime you've been on a reality show before and you go on Amazing Race, you have a leg up because you know what they're looking for in terms of how to behave in front of a camera. And then you don't have to have that in your head. You're not really thinking. Like, I feel like once you've had Big Brother Twitter on your head, you don't really worry about how you're going to come across on the screen, and so you'll be a little more organic and you're not going to be distracted by the cameramen and you can focus a little bit more on your race. So I think that in that respect I think it's going to be good. And also I think I think Big Brother fans love their show a lot and will watch other shows if their Big Brother people are on it. Exactly like you're saying. Taryn. The Traitors has been a monster hit and they're hoping to collect some of that crossover audience. Now whether the relative wholesomeness of the Amazing Race environment will retain any of those fans is up for debate. I think it remains to be seen, but I think anything that lights a fire under The Amazing Race 38 seasons in is not going to be a bad thing.
B
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B
Yeah, I mean, there's a couple things in this concept that I find very interesting and chief among them is the idea that, like I'm not going to call this Big Brother Blood versus Water because the format is inherent in another reality show. But the fact is that that with one exception, it is essentially one reality TV alum and one newbie And I think that allows us to get to know some of these people that we think we knew from previous seasons a bit more. By bringing a bit of their home life into the occasion, it allows us to get to know a new person. So it almost is like bringing in that aspect that we get from a typical season of the Amazing Race. I mean, what we'll get into, and I'm sure this will be incorporated into all of our drafting strategy, is how much relationships and alliances will come into play. Because to Terrence Plan, we have certainly seen in the past that there will be blocks of people that will form. But in a competition that is inherently about, hey, don't slow down, don't fall behind, we have seen teams sometimes really fail by saying, no, I'm going to wait for you, and as a result really jeopardize their own success. But also, again, it's been a bit of a tried and true history with Big Brother and the Amazing Race. Of course, besides Derek and Claire, who won season 34, Jess and Cody, one.
A
We don't need to talk about them. That's fine.
B
Oh, yeah, of course. But we had one of the most, you know, one of the most appeared alumni on the Amazing Race is Rachel Riley, who has appeared on three seasons, of course, a Big Brother winner in her own right. She and Brendan, Jeff and Jordan. So again, there, this is not something that has necessarily popped up out of the blue. And to your point, Jess, I'll be intrigued to see if kind of disseminating the usual casting style into an entire group of people, albeit throwing in also a bunch of newbies to reality TV in general, will change up the formula a bit.
C
Well, I think I don't want to get too far into the Amazing Race weeds here because I recognize that we're not preaching exclusively to the choir today, but this has done pretty well in Australia. Not with Big Brother people, but Australia's Amazing Race last season and now in the season that's currently airing has featured Australian celebrities with a loved one who may or may not be famous in their own right. It seems to be doing very well. And no, Americans do not know who any of those people are. So I feel like it's almost. It's almost the same thing for me. Like I'm going into the country of Big Brother here and seeing celebrities from that country.
B
Yeah, we're a few steps away from it becoming its sovereign nation, but only a few small steps at this point.
C
Maybe fewer than we think.
B
Well, let's get into the draft proper. So at this time there are 13 teams that are confirmed to be on the Amazing Race 38. So it's going to be, you know, a pretty cut and dry draft that each of the three of us are going to draft one team. We'll do it snake style. We'll each end the draft with four teams and one team to be left over for the audience to lap up or perhaps be left to have not. At the end of the day, I did do a random spin of the wheel, much like the veto wheel back in the day, Tara, in those old school days to figure out what the order is going to be. And the order will be Taryn Armstrong going first, followed by myself and Jessica Leese at the turn. So basically we'll go through the draft order. We'll stop down as each pick is made and talk a little bit about each of our thoughts on each of these teams and we'll see who ends up taking home the W at the end of it. This is a winner takes all draft. I don't know, maybe throughout this we'll talk about grenades and other complicated rules, but I think right now we'll keep it fairly simple. So, Taren, you're on the clock. The number one pick of the Amazing Race 38 draft. Who you got?
A
I listen, I have to go with my girl, Taylor. Taylor and Kyland, they are the only team that is that both of them are Big Brother players. And I think that in itself could be an advantage. Could be a disadvantage. But I've got to put faith in Taylor. She has always done well. She came in second in Reindeer Games. She won her season of Big Brother. I think that she has a wide skill set in terms of like the kinds of challenges that might pop up on the Amazing Race. And then Kyland was also very good at challenges on Big Brother. So just to give a quick background on their Big Brother experiences, Taylor very famously had a rough road on Big Brother 24. She came on the show, she was instantly bullied, ostracized. Fans of the show were like, just get her out of there. For her own. Her own mental health. She persevered, overcame the adversity, went on to win the season in dramatic fashion. One of the best stories that Big Brother has produced ever. She went on to compete in the spin off show Reindeer Games where she showed a little bit more of a strategic edge to her. Did very well in that show too. Came just short of winning that one. Kyland appeared on A Big Brother 23 just one season before. He was part of the famous cookout alliance that Dominated that season. He was a huge part of its success. Very much very strategic, very smart player. Definitely fell a bit short when it came to sort of like the social game. Kind of pissed some people off and made some big mist at the end. Sort of decided he wanted to go like Mano Amano against the eventual winner Xavier, but was very good at competitions and I think would definitely want to be very prepared coming onto the Amazing Race. He has since competed on the challenge a few times, and I think he's done fairly decently there. So the two of them together, definitely a formidable pair. Also probably a big target from other players, so that's something to worry about. But, you know, I got to. I got to put my faith in him.
B
Jess, what are your thoughts on Taylor and Kylan, either from your respective experiences or, again, to your earlier point, just looking at them as a team because you talk about evening the playing field. There still is going to be a small bit of a leg up with this pair, considering they are the only team that is of two Big Brother alumni.
C
Yeah, well, I did watch the cookout season, so we do have that. So I'm familiar with Kyland, and I did watch Reindeer Games, so I am familiar with Taylor. And, yeah, they're both good players. They're going to be in their element when it comes to challenges. I think they're going to be socially savvy. I want. I have a question, though, because I. From what I was reading, are these two really dating or is this one of those Eric and Danielle situations? Mike, you know what I'm talking about.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
B
I mean, listen, we could do an entire other podcast series about the romantic lives of these players.
C
I mean, it's relevant. It's going to come up, you know, it is.
B
Well, they, they, they. They're definitely kicking it. I think it depends. Paranoids to, like, what the state of things was at the time they left the country. Mm.
A
Yeah. I mean, like, you know, I would assume that they're, you know, on. On pretty good terms considering that they're going on the Amazing Race together. I don't. I wouldn't speak to the exact nature of their relationship at this point, but I also assume that we will find out when the show starts.
B
Yeah, we just got to see what their lower third is going to be.
A
Yes.
C
Is it going to say kicking it? Because that would be rare.
A
But I would say. I would say probably that. You know, I would. I would assume that if they're doing the Amazing Race together, then they're probably like, at the height of their relationship, I would assume. But I don't know.
C
It doesn't mean a thing, honestly, because there have been many Amazing Race teams where their connection has been built up because these are two extremely good looking people with large social followings. And so we're going to say that they are very good friends when in fact it's like the one thing they have in common is like what they do for a living or that they were on the same show. And it's not necessarily an indication that you have a strong bond just because you are a team together on the Amazing Race, although that frequently is a thing. And paradoxically, that could be good for them because in the case that I was referencing on Amazing Race All Stars, all the teams were preexisting teams that had competed before, except for Eric and Danielle, who had had a little bit of a showmance while they were on the race. And Danielle went out crazy early.
B
Yeah, like fourth team booted or something.
C
The two of them had broken up long before they were ever cast on the show. But it was like, this is a fun idea, this is a fun gimmick to have this team that met as Amazing Racers competing as a couple. And part of the reason they did so well was because they didn't have drama with each other. They were working together because their entire goal was the show. Their entire goal was to do well as racers. They didn't really care what each other thought of each other. And oddly enough, this seemed to work in their favor.
B
Yeah, I mean, speaking to the two of them, I think they have a fantastic set of skills. I mean, I'm going to focus on Kylan in particular because Kylan I most recently saw on the Challenge and to your point, Taryn, you talk about preparation. Like his nickname on the challenge 40 was the Kaiborg. Like, this was a guy who was seemingly good at basically everything in the game except for swimming. And they for some reason decided to basically throw all the challengers in a huge body of water for the final. So, like, he absolutely, quite literally sunk his game despite being like, maybe at least in contention for the title that season. So I think that Kyland is somebody in particular who, like, is very well prepared in just his traditional set of skills. And even if he wasn't, he would spend, you know, the Malcolm, Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours if he could to learn how to become an expert on that. And Taylor is absolutely no slouch either. I think she is somebody who could absolutely stick with Kylan as well. I think she's someone that can certainly be able to work relationships to, you know, I think again, it will depend on how these teams are going to work together if they choose to work independently. But I think Taylor is someone who is going to have a lot of connections with some of these recent alumni concerning. She just appeared on the jury roundtable this season. She's one of the most beloved alumni that are around. And so I think she's someone who's in a really good standing with a lot of people and as long as they, you know, are able to work together well, I think this could be an absolutely lethal team this season.
A
Working together well, I think will be the interesting part with. With Taylor and Kyland because I think the dynamic could be very interesting. Kyland on Big Brother was very good at working with people, but then would definitely sometimes, like again, there was a little bit of strife that went on on big for the 23. And so, yeah, like, how well they work together I think will be key.
B
All right, so Taylor and Kylan wiped off the board here. Let me go with my pick. Here I am between a couple. Let me also put out at the top here because again, this is one of those rare moments for Big Brother alumni where they are listening to people react to something that they filmed already. Any choices that we make of certain teams ahead of other teams are meant to be, no offense to, you know, any teams that are not chosen in lieu of it. It's just thinking about how they might do on the race overall. So I am between a couple of pairs at the moment, but let me go with what's hot and what's fresh and what's hot and what's fresh right now is our most recent winner of America's Favorite house guest and his brother. I will take Tucker and big brother 26 and his brother Eric Taran. Let's give a bit of a background on Tucker.
A
This is a good pick. So Tucker was a star of the most recent season of Big Brother. He won a bunch of competitions in a row. He was unevictable for a while and then out of nowhere completely botched a puzzle to basically did it backwards and just like that vanished from the show. But he was a star the time. In the time that he was there, he was super entertaining. The fans loved him. He was a huge presence in the show. He's a guy that is. He took a lot of like, really big and unnecessary risks essentially, like using the veto on somebody else when he was on the block knowing that he was going to be able to compete and then save himself. So he is the kind of guy who will very much like, just take big swings and probably put a big target on himself because everyone's going to be looking at Tucker. He's the golden boy. He's the one that's going to be really good at a lot of things. And the fact that he's there with his brother, who is, from, I think what I've heard, also very good at a lot of things, it definitely makes them a very formidable team. The thing about Tucker, as I mentioned, as I mentioned, not only taking big risks, but also a little bit known for, you know, having a little bit of a hot head. And I could definitely see Tucker getting frustrated and going and getting really tilted at certain competitions and challenges. And that could be his Achilles heel. I, I would say. And we saw that with, with how he went on, out on big brothers that like just one mistake and then doing the competition and then just, just, just like that, he was done.
B
Yeah. So, Jess, when you talk about, you know, the, the timeline, getting in a tizzy over some things and some players, I would imagine Tucker was one of those people throughout, you know, the month and a half he spent in the house. So what do you know about him and what do you think about this team? Because this is our first of many bro teams, quite literally, that are being talked about here on the season.
C
Yeah, I will admit I do not know much about this season. I watched a bit.
B
Oh, boy. Well, we're going to get into. You're going to learn a lot about Big Brother 26 today, I'm sure.
C
I am. Like, there are some. There are some faces I recognize more than others. I remember him being very good at challenges and I remember him being a big presence. But I'm going to go more on my Amazing Race vibes knowledge here to say that I think in a vacuum, this is a good pick because these guys are. These guys are athletic and young and enthusiastic, and I think that will serve them well. This is always a good demographic to pick as your winner pick because they have historically done very well on the race. One place that they might get in trouble is this propensity for big swings because sometimes on Amazing Race, if you take a big risk, it pays off in a big way. But other times it's disaster for you. Like if you zig while everybody else zags, you may leap ahead of everybody or you may get left behind. So I think we will see them inject some energy into the show force for sure. But whether or not that kind of erratic Player tendency and that sort of hot headedness. Whether or not those are helpful things for them, I think is a bigger question.
B
Yeah, I mean, I think honestly the biggest question mark out of this is going to be Eric because yeah, to both of your points, Tucker is somebody that was maybe known for making moves before necessarily thinking them through. Of course, that aforementioned move where he does use the veto on Angela was done in spite of the literal head of household telling him like, no, do not do this. And Tucker's like, okay, so do it. Great, I will do it. So despite this being a bit of apples and oranges in general, that could translate to like making decisions on the fly in the moment, which does happen so much in the Amazing Race. What I'm intrigued to see is if Eric is somebody who will sort of be the cooler there to Tucker to be able to calm him down and talk to the decision making process or if it is sort of like, like breeds like that. These are two guys that might blow up on each other that feed each other with that. That hot headed aspect. It is absolutely a gamble, but it's only appropriate for Tucker that we take a gamble on him. And Eric, by the way, trying to get this information out of, of course, friend of the podcast, reality TV Underscore. Underscore fan who said that Eric is a senior research analysis analyst and has a master's in finance from Boston College. And I think to the point of the skill set, that's really what's working in the biggest favor for these two is that not only are they younger, not only are they athletic, but as Tucker infamously said, a lot puzzles. That they are actually very academic as well, which I think could help if and when some of the brainier stuff gets thrown their way.
C
Well, that certainly puts another spin on it because I think we could be seeing one of those situations where one of them is kind of has a tendency to act fast and fly off the handle and. And make brash decisions and maybe Eric is sort of the calming force that keeps him in line and that's a dynamic that does very well in the Amazing Race.
A
Another thing worth mentioning, probably the first of many times we mentioned this, but Tucker has some very close relationships with other racers, including of course, Rubina. To my knowledge, they are still dating from their time on the show and she is on a separate team with her s. So they, I would imagine are going to be working very closely together. He also is on the same season as Chelsea and her dad Jack. And while they found themselves on opposite sides of the House. I would imagine that they also probably work together for a good portion of the season. So he's got a bit of a built in crew to start with.
B
Yeah. And again, I think much like Taylor, he is somebody who is sort of like in a very good standing with a lot of these alumni as well, especially because they. A lot of these alumni are recent too. So I think there is a chance, especially if we get. We don't know how much U turns are going to get involved or opportunities to sort of like backstab or take shots at other teams over the course of this season. But much like we saw in Big Brother 26 proper, they could stick out as a very threatening pair and get targeted as a result.
A
And Tucker strikes me as the kind of guy that would stay back to help Rubina in a challenge if she's still going. Like, he would be like, I'm willing to take that risk. Like, let's. Let's work together.
B
All right, Jess, it is to you. You get two picks here, but we'll go one at a time. Who is your first pick for the first round?
C
Well, Mike, I think I gotta go with my most known quantity here and I think we're allowed to tell this story, right?
B
Yes. Do it, do it.
C
Okay. Okay. So with my first pick, I'm going with Izzy and Paige. They are engaged. They are New Yorkers. They're absolutely delightful. And here's why I think they're gonna do well.
B
So I'm already laughing about this.
C
We have laughed about this so much in the last few weeks. So a couple of weeks ago was the premiere of Amazing Race 37, and Mike and I went to the premiere party that one of the teams was throwing in Brooklyn and we end up watching the episode with Izzy and Paige. And now Izzy has been to a lot of Amazing Race events in the past, but I've never talked to her personally because it's also like she doesn't know who I am. She is a Big Brother person. We have some friends in common. But I had wanted to meet her for a long time just because this was a season I watched a big chunk of because I'd come in as a Survivor fan and I had loved her in particular as someone who has worked in the performing arts space. And so I got chatting with them and they're huge fans of the show and we're talking a little bit about the rumors they're flying around. And I said, well, they must have called the two of you. You would be an amazing team on this show. And it's like total stone face. No, we didn't hear from it at all. And so I was thinking about this. They convinced me so thoroughly that they had nothing to do with this. Despite being big fans, despite being a fun, attractive couple with a lot of knowledge about Amazing Race, I walked out of there thinking, well, when this cast drops, it's gonna suck because Izzy and Paige aren't on it.
B
And look at this.
C
Look at this. They're on it. So kudos to them. I mean, I am pretty gullible, so I'm not surprised they fooled me. I'm surprised they fooled Mike a little bit. But they know their stuff. They are very knowledgeable in this space. They have watched a lot of Amazing Race and Paige especially knows this space very well. And I think they will. They will be able to use their knowledge of how this game works to their advantage.
B
All right, Taryn, give the the summary on Izzy's very up and down journey in Big Brother 25.
A
Yes, Big Brother 25. Izzy worked very closely with Survivor star Siri. She was the only one to instantly recognize that her son Jared was on the cast. And so she joined the family and the three of them, I wouldn't say worked well together necessarily, but definitely dominated the first half of the season. There was a lot of back and forth. We often attribute this to the fact that Siree is used to a Survivor pace where you're voting someone out every couple of days. And so every couple of days she was changing the plan on Big Brother, even though it's a weak schedule. But Izzy was very much somebody who was a very, very active player, going and talking to people, enacting plans, thinking through options and strategies, and really, you know, got kind of screwed midway through the season for a couple of reasons. One is that she was just a bit too loyal to Suri and put herself in danger when she didn't need to be. And. And two, was so attached to Siree that her other allies decided that she needed to go in order to make a. To, you know, have a revolution against Siree and Jared. Essentially. I think that she will be underrated both as sort of a. How knowledgeable she is about the show and how good she might do in. In the challenges, how well she might do there, but also in how good she is socially and. And the kinds of connections she might be able to make. And again, like, that's obviously on the Amazing Race. It's not as important, but I do think there will be a lot of that on this season. In particular, I think A lot of will be looking to make bonds and alliances and help each other in challenges. And so I think that I would imagine that Izzy is going to be somebody who's able to get along with a lot of different groups.
B
Yeah. So let's just say, first and foremost, these two will kill any challenge involving rhythm that comes their way, which happens. I mean, Jess, we watched the premiere of the Amazing Race where both of these tests on the fork in the road were based on rhythm, to the point where I said, like, the two things you need to do for the Amazing Race to prepare is learn how to drive stick and have rhythm. And obviously, Izzy is a flautist. Paige is a lighting designer. She actually, speaking of Big Brother connections, has recently worked on Titanique featuring Frankie Grande and Tommy Bracco were both in it at a certain point. So they both live in the musical world. And so I think whether it's singing, dancing, even just, like, getting some sort of rhythm with an instrument, I think they will absolutely kill it. I think even if they didn't know a lot about the show, Izzy's infamous Big Brother origin story was that she watched every season twice over the course of six months. So, like, she could cram quick if need be. I'm really excited for this, not only just because I adore them as people, but because I do feel like, to Jess's point, I think the edit really undersold a lot of the wild stuff Izzy was doing in Big Brother 25, where she was up there alongside serene Felicia making all these decisions and Jared and the show didn't really showcase it. And Izzy is a very fun personality. So I'm hoping that this is a case where we get to see not only her personality truly shine, but against and alongside the person that she loves more than anything and, you know, hopefully be able to get some. Some much needed wedding money in the future.
A
Izzy is also another player who just goes all in. She competed in the RHAP pressure cooker competition, where she lasted, I think, like, 12 or so hours.
B
Oh, yeah. The most iconic image there is her lighting up a joint while holding a ball on top of her.
A
Yeah, It's a lot of dedication for. For not only the bit, but for the challenge. So, you know, watch out. Watch out for Izzy and Paige, for sure.
B
All right, Jess, still on you. You get one more pick here. Are there any other teams that have lied to your face that you want to pick between?
C
I think these are the only. These are the only ones that I've met, to my knowledge, so we're kind of we're flying blind Ish for the rest of them. But I have. I've seen most of these people on my screen at some point. So with my next pick, I'm gonna go with Jag and Jazz. The twins.
B
Our twinnies.
C
Our twinnies. Because I love a good twinny team. It is worth noting that identical twins tend to not do as well on the Amazing Race as you would think they would. And part of that is because they are so similar. They bring similar skill sets to the table. They bring similar physicality, similar experiences in life most of the time. But I think these two could do very well because we've seen Jag in action on Big Brother. He's a great player. He's good at competitions. He's social, he's smart, and I liked watching him. He was somebody I really enjoyed watching on Big Brother. I don't enjoy watching everybody on Big Brother, but I definitely liked him, and I like that. I like that he's got a twin. I think that's. That's fun when. When you find this out, because there's, like, an inordinate number of twins on Big Brother, and I think at the.
B
Beginning of the season, they make twists about them.
C
Well, I was going to say, if somebody comes into the game and they have a twin, you wonder if they're gonna. If the twin is gonna wind up in the game as well at some point.
B
All right, Taran, give the lowdown on the 100 days of big Brother. Jag played well.
A
I. I didn't. I didn't know they were twins. I thought they were not twins, but maybe I was wrong.
C
That's what I read. So if I'm wrong, please come at me. It says they are brothers. They may not be twins.
A
Well, either way, Jag is currently, like, the record holder in Big Brother for amount of competition wins. And, you know, there's. There's a little bit of debate about the record based on, like, the events of the season, but undeniably, Jag is an incredible competitor, and not just because he's, like, good at things, but I would say that Jag is just. He has very few weaknesses. He is always going to have, like, a good baseline level of proficiency, and he is always thinking about. About, like, what is the way I can optimize my. My ability to complete this challenge in the best way possible. The fact that his brother Jazz is here is, I think, just. I think they're gonna work really well together. Jazz, from what I've heard, is just, like, a super great Guy Jag is really easy to get along with also. I think they're gonna be like, I imagine they'll be looked at as targets to some degree because of Jags reputation in Big Brother. He ultimately won the season primarily because he just won so many competitions. It was impossible to stop him and people might be a little worried about that, but at the same time it's hard to like, you know, hang out with Jag and be like, this guy's gotta go. Like, I, I don't like this guy. So I think this is a great pick. I think that they are definitely in contention here. I don't know if they have immediate allies or anything, but I also don't know that they'll be immediately targeted despite jag's reputation.
B
Men. Nor do they need to at this point because I think even if it just comes to running an independent race, I think Jag in particular has shown his incredible set of skills. Again, these weren't. Despite the fact that as Taryn very, you know, scrupulously pointed out, the, the big disparity of physical competitions that existed particularly at the end game of Big Brother 25. There was a lot of mental stuff thrown in there as well. And that's one reason why Jag was able to full have that record is because he has a very wide set of skills under pressure that can apply here. You know, I don't know too much about Jaz, I guess they're both co founders of a TikTok agency and a real estate agency. So maybe to your point, Jess, we could see sort of like breeding like, and the two of them not really necessarily filling in for each other's inefficiencies. I guess the question is, are there any inefficiencies for these two? But regardless, I think you could count on Jag and Jazz doing really well in the competitions. There is of course the X factor that applies to all these teams in terms of navigation. Obviously when you take, when you're primarily focusing on a show where people don't need to go anywhere, this is the thing that you really can't account for. But I think just on the surface, this is another really solid pick. Okay, so it is on to me and you know, as much fun as it would be for Taran to possibly have the entirety of this big brother 24thruffle, I'm going to be the, the cock blocker here, metaphorically. I will take Joseph and Adam. I think a lot of what we were just talking about with Jag and Jazz can apply to Joseph and Adam not.
C
Not.
B
Not really in the form of competitions because Joseph did not really win any. But obviously he's a very athletic guy, very academic. Considering that he was in the process of becoming a lawyer, I believe when he was on Big Brother 24. I believe his brother is also involved in the law as well. Or maybe he's getting his law degree at the moment. Yes, he's a teaching assistant at the Florida International School of Law and both of them have law degrees. So I think this is a little bit of a similar situation where I think these guys are. Can both take care of maybe the physical and the mental sides. I don't have a sense as to who they are in terms of their own dynamic. But Joseph was a really sweet guy during his time on Big Brother 24 that I think he could go along to get along with just about everybody. And of course that extends to the other teams as well. But before I didn't go any further, Taren talk about Joseph Abdin, I guess. What is this parentheses 27 at this point?
A
That's w. Joseph, of course, will know Taylor very well. They dated after their time on season 24. I believe they are still on great terms, so I don't think there's any drama there, but who knows? I would imagine that they will be working together in some capacity because of their prior relationship and current relationship.
B
And.
A
And so, you know, that's certainly a benefit for Joseph. His time on the show was that he. He basically started the game a little bit on the outside, helped build some relationships and put together a big alliance that included Taylor and. And ended up sort of dominating the. The rest of the season. Now, interestingly enough, I don't think Joseph ever won a single competition on his time in the show. Now he was up against some stiff competition. Michael was sort of like the competition beast of the season and was just dominating those competitions. He was kind the record breaker before Jazz came or Jag came in, but. But despite that, I don't think he's like, gonna be bad at any particular competition. And I don't know much about Adam, but. But I think that Joseph as, as Mike mentioned, just super nice guy, gonna get along with a lot of people. And, uh, I could see, uh, him and his brother like, really standing out as like fan favorites in a. In a sea of like, hyper competitive Big Brother players. I think Joseph and sort of like how sweet he is might stand out.
B
Yeah. And I also think, Jess, you know, when it comes to. If there is an ability to target other teams, both of the other even just guy guy teams we were mentioning before in Tucker and Eric and Jag and Jazz, I think would get a lot more attention than Joseph and Adam. So there's a chance they could slip through a bit undetected just, just due to the, the prior resumes of the other people around them.
C
Yeah, they could kind of fly under the radar by virtue of the fact that he didn't place very high and that you have these other teams that are much more visible as comp beasts. That's what you call them, right? I'm being facetious, but I'm also, I'm attempting to reach out and like speak the language of the people in Big Brother nation. These guys. This photo is giving me pause. Oh, why are their shirts unbuttoned so much?
B
Jess? This is big.
A
You got it. You gotta flaunt it.
C
I guess. I, I mean, this is, I'm at sea here. But typically when we're doing an Amazing Race draft and there's a team with their shirts unbuttoned to their navel, I do not pick that team.
B
That's why James, and James, of course, infamously raid. They walked so that these two could hopefully run fair.
C
And they did very well. So.
B
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A
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B
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A
Well, listen, I'm just gonna continue my, my current strategy which is pick the people I know and I'm gonna go with my girl Hannah.
B
There we go. Hannah. I don't know if we could call her Chada because now there are two Chadas.
A
That's very true.
B
It's Hannah and her sister Simone.
A
Yes. I was very sad when I saw that they were alternates and then very happy when I hear Hannah is first of all a dancer and so will I imagine, just crush any rhythm dancing anything like that challenge and is also super, super smart and super, super competitive as well. And so, so her time on the show, she was on season 23 with Kyland. She was also part of the cookout alliance. She was one of the first people out at the end once they got to the cookout section. She was the youngest member of the alliance and you know, a lot of people felt like, you know, she just didn't get as firm a foothold as she maybe could have because of that. But since her time off of the show, she's really like developed a lot of relationships and you know, she, she hosted this like, I don't even know like what to call it. It wasn't quite a murder mystery, but it was like this challengy, you know, party thing that, that she invited me to in la. One time I met her sister who is absolutely delightful like the like so, so sweet and, and, and kind and was just really, really great to meet and she's just really into these games and there were lots of different like, ways to strategize. She ended up winning because she beat me. Even though I tried to, to cheat and beat her because of I, I sort of cheesed a vote here or there. But, but listen, everyone voted for her over my team. That's fine. And so, so I think that this, this team has a lot of potential strengths and you know, yeah, they're not like the, the young bucky male teams but I think, I think they'll, they'll slide right under the radar and. And really crush.
B
So what's interesting is that to your point about maybe Hannah sticking out in season 23, she was definitely the youngest contestant. She was only 21 years old when she ended up playing Big Brother 23. And, Jess, you know, you and I have talked about a team like Conan holden in season 37 and how much, you know, age and lack of life experience might work against you. For what it's worth, I do think Hannah has a life experience that is beyond her age. Right now. I believe she's in med school. So she is somebody that I think has gone through a lot and proves that age might just be a number in the case of her and her sister.
C
Yeah, she always struck me as someone who was very smart for her age. And I think it was just like the season that she was on of Big Brother was a relatively high strategy season with some very, like, tight gameplay where there's not a lot of room to deviate from the plan. And I'm not. It's not a slight on that season. I actually enjoyed it for that reason. Weirdly, I enjoyed it for the same reasons I hated, like, the Boston Rob season of Survivor because it was just the way that the game was structured and the way that strategy played out so flawlessly. It was. It was very fun to watch. And I think that also that led to some tight bonds within those groups, and I. Yeah, I thought she was fun to watch. I'm excited to see what she does here. Glad she made it on, because this is another face I recognize.
B
All right, so just as a brief reset after two rounds here, halfway through our draft, Taryn has Taylor and Kylan and Hannah and Simone is about to make this third pick. I have Tucker and Eric and Joseph and Adam, and Jess has Izzy and Paige and Jag and Jack. Taren, you're back on the clock. Who do you want to pick in the back half of this draft?
A
Well, now I've got a tough choice, but you can't cheat.
B
You can't pick two.
A
Listen, Eliza, it wasn't really cheating. I just. I just circumvented what the group would have voted for because I had a good connection to one guy, and I. And I got the guy to be the representative of that group. So. So what I. What I think I'm gonna go with here is there. There's a few options here, but I think the. The reason I might not go with this person is because I'm not. I don't know what the strength of their partner will be. But I, I have a lot of faith in the strength of this person themselves. So I'm gonna go with Chelsea and her father Jack.
B
All right. Yes. Our most recent champ, though, I believe at the time this comes out, there might be another big brother champion that she'll pass off the crown to. But talk to me about all things Chelsea.
A
So Chelsea dominated her season. One of the most dominating wins we've seen at least for, you know, four plus years in the show. Was very, very good socially, made a lot of great connections and it was also really good at competitions. She very nearly broke the record for hoh wins in a season. She was great at like mental competitions. And you know, her and her ally Mackenzie just like traded off wins back and forth at the end game. So she has a lot of strength there. She's super smart. She's going to be able to strategize well. She's got good connections. I do think that, you know, while she will be able to work with players like Tucker and Rubina, I have to imagine that there's a part of them because I think this happens sometimes that will be like, you know, if they end up making it deep and they have like a u turn kind of situation, they're going to be like, you're not going to do it to me twice, Chelsea. And they might turn on her. But I think that there's a lot of potential strength here. Again, I don't know know much about her father and you know, I think that generally, you know, I'm, I don't know what the stats are for like father daughter, mother, son kind of teams, but my hope is that he's going to be able to, to come in clutch and, and round out a strong team.
B
Well, I mean, good news for you, Taryn, and picking Jack. Apparently Jack is a firefighter. And not to say that firefighters, they don't have nearly as good of a track record on amazing race as they do on survivor. But I would imagine from an endurance perspective, he's certainly up there.
C
The other good news for you, Taryn, is that you have some people out here that can speak to the track record of parent child teams on the amazing race. And father daughter teams do tend to do very well. We've never had one win, but we've had some come very close and it seems to be a better dynamic than in terms of like statistical performance. We've had father son winners. We've never had, never had father daughter winners. We've never had mother daughter winners and we've Never had mother son winners, even though those are usually the teams that I root for the hardest. But I think it's in terms of, like, what kind of family dynamic works well in the race. I think this one does do very well historically, and I think. I think that knowing how good Chelsea is as a competitor and knowing that her father's, like, in pretty good shape, I think that speaks well for them.
B
I'm excited about this pairing because oftentimes one of the big parts of in particular, like, father, daughter storylines is, okay, I am used to sort of lording over you as the dad, but now we have to work together as peers. What's interesting about this dynamic is that we got to know Chelsea first and we got to see how incredibly dominant of a Persona she can be when it comes to competitions, when it comes to strategy. Again, for all the wild chaos that Big Brother 26 was, Chelsea was, like, sort of the constant and that she was the one that, with a couple of exceptions, was able to really turn things her way time after time. And so now we get to see, like, how Jack gets involved and like, to see Chelsea, I think, really substantiate herself as, in my opinion, one of the Big Brother. Great. How does Jack sort of interact with that? You know, does it turn back into the parent child dynamic that they grew up with? Or is it like, all right, you brought home $750,000. I think we could listen to you when it comes to what Detour to pick. All right, so that is one down. Now we're getting into, you know, the back half of things. There might be some more X factors getting brought in here. So I will go first off. I've got. I've got enough dudes right now. I need a break from the dudes. Let me try to balance out the genders a little bit. So I will go with a team that is the longest we have seen on our screens. Again. This cast is quite modern. You know, the vast majority of them have appeared at some point on seasons 21 through 26, the last five years of the show. Big Brother, with one exception. I am picking Natalie Negroti and her sister Stephanie. I'm a repping Jersey. Their rep in Jersey. Taryn, talk about Natalie, who we last saw in big brother nearly 10 years ago at this point.
A
That's wild. Natalie played on a season of Big Brother that had previous players on, previous veterans on the cast, and while the season wasn't necessarily dominated by those previous players, one of them did eventually win that season. She did lead a revolution against the power structure at one point helped flip the. The game on its head. She ended up in the end game with, you know, not the worst position in the world, but. But, you know, like, had a fairly strong show for. For, like, the season. She had, like, a relationship with another contestant named James that people really like.
B
Oh, you might get a cease and desist if you mention it.
A
You know, I. I say relationship and, like, I do not mean necessarily that it was romantic in any way. There's a lot of, I guess, contention over that. But she then went on to participate in the challenge a few times, I believe. I don't know that she's well on the challenge. Mike might be able to fill me in on that. But not exactly known for her competition prowess, but she was definitely, like, a strong character on the show, and I'm. I'm curious to see what she does here, but, you know, nothing. Nothing standout, I would say, to, like, give her a competitive edge necessarily.
B
Yeah. So with no offense to big brother 18, the primary reason I am choosing Natalie. Natalie is actually because of the challenge. So Natalie appeared on three seasons of the challenge back to back to back. She was on seasons 31, 32, and 33. Season 31, she actually made a really big impact as a rookie. You know, there. There was maybe a bit of canoodling with Johnny Bananas, which we don't need to necessarily talk about, but she definitely proved herself as a rookie, got nearly to the end of the game, was able to prove herself in a couple of daily challenges as well as a couple of eliminations. Season 32 was a bit of a cluster F where she and fellow Big Brother 18 contestant Paulie were technically, like, eliminated first, but they had won a couple of these, like, battle backs to get back into the house, where they made it all the way to the final, where, like, had Natalie not gone running miles in the other direction, which maybe speaks to actually how she might do on the Amazing Race, they were absolutely out of it. She ends up appearing on season 33 where. Where production ends up losing her number, supposedly because, like, in retribution for getting eliminated, she went and dumped a bunch of glitter on a certain contestant's luggage on the way out, which apparently just, like, got everywhere and got production so mad at her that she. They basically purpled her in the edit, and she.
A
Of all the things I've heard about challenge contestants doing and saying it's dumping glitter that gets her number. I. I figured she just didn't do well, and that's why she wasn't on the challenge. Anymore. Sounds like she was a great contestant on the challenge. They dumped her for glitter.
B
So that's what's interesting to me is, like, I think she has it. And granted, even that was a little while ago, but, like, I remember her playing on, like, a season of sequester when that was still going. Like, I think she has a hunger for these types of social strategic games. And again, not to say that Amazing Race is like the end all, be all of those types of things, but I think there is a competitive spirit that she brings. I know buff kiss about Stephanie, but I would imagine that, like, Natalie would try to put her in fighting shape. So. So, again, what I've seen of her is a few years removed, certainly compared to these other teams. But from what I remember, I was impressed and I'm hoping Jessie is able to bottle that and channel it here.
C
Well, I think there's one other thing that we have not discussed about Natalie, and this is she knows a lot about the Amazing Race because she was a former cheerleader with the New York jets and she was BFFs with Tiffany and Krista, who did very, very well in Amazing Race 27. And basically, literally everything I know about Natalie is down to knowing Tiffany and Krista, who are great friends of Rob as a podcast and who are lovely humans who would certainly have downloaded all of their knowledge of the show and its inner workings and its strategies before she would undertake something like this. So she has an in. She has some people in her corner that know this game very well. And the fact that she has done so many other seasons of reality tv, I think positions her very well here. And I think it can. We are eventually going to get to this conversation where it could be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. If your entire life is around, like, being on reality shows. Sometimes you go on a show like this and you are out of your day depth, which I think is the case in at least one other instance that we will get to. But I think it's going to work well for her here. I think she has a lot of affection for this series and I think she's going to come into it with the right mindset.
B
All right, Chess, a lot of pressure on you right now. You are making the last two picks for your team, so I'll alleviate the pressure a little bit. Just pick the first one for now and we'll talk it through.
C
Yeah, I don't. I don't need to pick two at once. Okay, so who's left on the board? We got to look here. You know what I'm really tempted to do here? I am tempted to, like you spoke about gender balance. I'm tempted to not gender balance at all. I'm just going to take the two female. Female teams off the board, and my entire team will be a lot of fun, I think. So I don't think it matters what order I pick them in. That's what I'm going to do here.
B
Okay, which one would you like to talk about first between Rubina and Christine and Angela and Lexi?
C
Well, I think I probably have more to say about Angela. So let's start with Rubina and Christine. They are sisters. They are. I remember Rubina being pretty good at the game. I remember she had a showmance. I don't remember a lot about her. So I'm going to rely on the two of you to tell me why I've made this pick.
B
All right, Taron, give us the deets.
A
Yes. So Robina, of course, it was on Big Brother 26 alongside Tucker and Chelsea. She got into a relationship with Tucker, and again, I imagine they will be very closely working together. She was, again, wasn't exactly known for, like, her competition prowess on the season. Eventually kind of got again shut out by Chelsea and Mackenzie in the end game, just winning comps back and forth. However, I think that she is very, very likable. I think that, you know, I. I don't think that people would, like, target her to try to get to Tucker in the way that they might on big brother, so. Although actually, it might be a good strategy thinking about it, because he would.
B
Probably wait for her.
A
But. But, you know, ultimately, I think that she has a lot of love fight and she's gonna really, like, go at competitions and. And like, the. The whole competition with. With a lot of, like, energy and enthusiasm. And, you know, I don't know how well that will work. I don't know much about her sister, but she did make it far on big brother. And, you know, she. She's got. She's got definitely a chance, I would say.
B
Yeah. And I mean, for what it's worth, she was putting in a lot of the work towards the end, despite maybe her alliance kind of being known for. To into the game of, like, sitting back on their laurels and letting things happen in front of them. Robina was trying to work out of being put in a corner, apparently. Christine, according to reality TV underscore fan, is a floral designer at a shop in Studio city and has a degree in business. So maybe bringing a bit more of that, like, organized managerial set. But, I mean, I think what is really going to help Robina here is the fact that she has, like an outright ride or die pair on the Amazing Race. And again, we have certainly seen teams at the back in the past kind of like fall on their sword on behalf of others. And I think that, you know, to have a team, though, that, you know, like, you could run alongside and like, if worse comes to worse, that's a team you could possibly beat out if you need to at the mat is a nice little buffer to have.
C
Yeah, it's not bad strategy. And I think. I don't think they would be. I don't think targeting is something that happens as often in Amazing Race and especially in recent seasons where we haven't seen as many U turns, But I think they will have, conversely, a little bit of a meat shield there if they are working with her boyfriend. They. They don't have to worry about really drawing fire from other teams when a U turn comes up because they will not be the primary target. So I think it's. It's a good play for them now as to whether that can really help you. Like, you still have to be good at racing in order to make it far on Amazing Race. You can't. You can't coast on somebody else's skills for the entire time, but I think it certainly can't hurt them.
B
All right, now let's get into the other team that you finished off Team Jess with with Angela and Lexi. So you mentioned before that perhaps out of all of the big brother 26ers being represented on this season, you know Angela the most. What do you know about her?
C
Well, I want to start by saying, do I think this team is going to win? No. Do I think we are going to love watching this team? Yes. And this is because Angela is pure chaos. Who sews chaos wherever she goes. She is. She is exciting to watch. I really, I stuck with. I stuck with Big Brother 26 much longer than I would have had she not been on there. Because every week I just wanted to know what she was saying. She is drama personified is Angela. And I cannot believe what she pulled off on Big Brother 26. And if she pulled it off again on Amazing Race, I would take back every tiny complaint I've ever made about the concept of this season.
B
Yeah, listen, we could do another hour on Angela's time and Big Brother Tracex in general. I think actually at the time we're talking, if the animal is like releasing his two and a half Hour magnum opus on Angela. But Taryn try to distill what the legend of Angela was.
A
Yes. So Angela played on season 26 with Tucker, Rubina and Chelsea, but I have not mentioned her as like a potential ally primarily. Primarily because while they might attempt it like I don't think the relationship there is great at the moment.
B
No people who are there for that one particular tick tock live know what went down.
A
Quite frankly, even if it was Angela strikes me as the kind of player based on her Big Brother performance that would like strike a deal with somebody in the Amazing Race and then immediately lie to them and then run away giggling like I told them the wrong direction and and just very quickly would get caught as like a double dealer if people didn't already know, which I think they do. So that is, I think what you can expect from Angela. She was the first HOH of the season and she basically the big moment she had early on was that she was approached with many offers for alliances because she was the first hoh, had a lot of power and she believed them to be fake, to be bad acting, low budget performances and so called out the entire house to. To many of their chagrins to. To and then them being like we really wanted to work with her. So absolutely chaos is. Is definitely what I think you can expect from Angela on her time with her time on the race for as long as it is is. And. And yeah, she wasn't bad at competitions actually. She actually managed to win a few of them. I don't think they'll be like that bad at. At at like competing, but it'll definitely be entertaining to. To see what they get up to.
B
Yeah, I mean I think where they will fall the most besides maybe ruffling some feathers, if not the whole bird when it comes to some of these teams is perhaps just the. The endurance aspect. I think Angela was able to benefit from the fact that Luckily Big Brother 266 had much more equitable competitions, which Angela was very good at. So I think when it comes to like attention to detail, memory, mental stuff, I think they've got that a good amount of that on lock. I think just when it comes to like if you're in a foot race against Angela and Lexi, I think there's a fair chance you could beat them now. Taran, I'm intrigued here because one of the big fun things about Big Brother 26 Twitter was that once Angela was in the house house we discovered this was far from her first time on our screens, nor apparently the last. Given this Season and one particular one I remember was when she was actually on house calls with Dr. Phil about an issue concerning her daughter. Do we know if that daughter is the one she is racing around the world with?
A
I think I've heard that it is. I could certainly try to, to check here very quickly, but I do, I believe that this was the daughter that, that was sort of the subject of this episode of Dr. Phil, where her daughter had not talked to or like interacted with her husband, her father, you know, for I think some amount of years. And the explanation was that he had sort of like, I think taken her phone or something along those lines. It was a. It's a. Listen, it's Dr. Phil.
B
So.
A
But yes, a lot of drama, A lot of drama around that whole situation.
B
Yeah. So it is interesting though, because I think yet again it has come out that there might have been a chance Angela would have shown up on a CBS reality show prior to Big Brother. Because I believe I saw this making the rounds once the cast was sort of leaked here that Angela and her son were actually in the midst of applying for the. The Amazing Race in previous year. They actually released like during Big Brother. Her son released like. Yeah, this was our callback audition for the Amazing Race. So what's interesting, Jess, is that we might see someone who knows surprisingly a fair amount about the show, considering that she was in contention for it earlier.
C
Well, they would be far from the first people to apply for Amazing Race and wind up cast on another show. From what I understand, it's very, very common.
B
Looking at you, Harvey. Looking at you, Kelly Wentworth.
A
I, I can, I can confirm Lexi was the, the daughter on. I'm. I've just checked.
C
Well, good. But you're not allowed to have phones on the Amazing Race, so it probably won't come up.
B
Yeah, exactly. Well, they got the Dr. Phil endorsement, which I should say. I'm so sorry, Angela. Lexi, if that is the case. But Jess, you have finished off your team. Ford Blue Cruise hands free highway driving.
C
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B
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C
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B
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C
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B
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Checking off the boxes on your to do list is a great feeling. And when it comes to checking off coverage, a State Farm agent can help you choose an option that's right for you. Whether you prefer talking in person, on the phone or using the award winning app, it's nice knowing you have help finding coverage that best fits your needs. Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there.
C
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And earn your Sunday Lowe's Official Partner of the NFL we have but three teams left right now. We have Enzo and Giacomo, we have Kat and Alex and we have the Turners. And I will go with the Turners here. I will continue to go in on On Big Brother 24, if not all in. This is another Chada situation where like, like I guess technically I had to call them Matt and Meghan because Matt went by Turner on Big Brother 24. But since they are now married, Megan is also a Turner. Regardless, Taryn, give us the details on what happened with Turner on BB24.
A
So Turner was very much like the the the young guy on the cast of season 24. He played with Taylor and they both made it to the final three. They worked fairly close together and Turner was actually one of the first people to very openly and publicly defend her in in a speech that he made as the hoh. They ended up working against each other by the end of the game and you know, not like significantly so, but they were sort of competing for who will Monty take to the end. Monty ended up making a massive mistake by taking Taylor who crushed the jury speech and won nearly, nearly unanimously. And he would have crushed Turner in a jury vote because he wasn't as respected by the jury. Very famously, Turner the person to not vote for Taylor to win the game. And he said he did so because he thought everyone else was going to vote for Monty.
B
Right.
A
And what was probably the most lopsided and very obvious vote given the response of the jury in the speeches in the history of the show.
B
Because for those who don't know, Turner and being evicted on finale night did not talk with the jury whatsoever he was, like, brought out onto stage, sat down with them, asked questions off a card, but otherwise had no idea who the other eight people were voting for.
A
For.
C
And they get to talk to each other quite a bit, don't they?
A
Yes. But, like, you know, if, and, and. And, you know, we. We joke about it. He was just evicted by his ally. You know, there's a lot of other things running through his mind, but, like, the jury were basically cheering at everything Taylor was saying, but he was kind of known for that. He was a little bit oblivious at times. That's part of why he wasn't as respected in the game. He was pretty good at competitions, though. He won, I think, three hohs. He. You. He. He had a competitive edge to him for sure. He's also very nice and likable. Like, there's no. I think. I don't think there's any reason to not, you know, want to work with Turner. I imagine he would work with Taylor and Joseph. And he is, yes, now married to. To Megan.
B
Megan. Megan, formerly Belmonte, as he. As he shouted out many times on BB24.
A
By all accounts, super sweet, super great. And I think that they also could be pretty popular on the show just in terms of, like, likability and, and the, the relationship dynamic between the two of them. So I'm excited to see what they get up to.
B
Yeah. Jess, thoughts about Turner and Megan? Yeah, we haven't talked a lot. Taylor and Kylan were like, really the only other romantic couple that we've talked about so far on this season.
A
And one more thing. Turner, very loyal player, was kind of a key to. To his time on the show.
C
Well, I think it's. It's very. It's a very Providence, Rhode island coded thing to go by your last name. Yeah, they seem like. They seem like they're lovely people. I think they'll do okay. I think they. They give. They give off vibes of, like, being the younger couple that goes out in the middle of the hack, which that happens a lot on Amazing Race. It's hard for me to say how I think they do on a show where loyalty doesn't mean necessarily quite as much. So it's, you know, it's hard to say, like, the social game does play into it, but, you know, it is really, in the end, it's more about how well you do at challenges and how well you can navigate and communicate with your partner. So, you know, there's a lot of. Of. There's a lot of unknowns when it comes to all of These people. And I really. I don't get a strong sense of, like, I don't get a strong sense that they know the show, that they love the show, that they are. That, you know, they're coming into this in an Amazing Race mindset, but I could be wrong. I have nothing to go on.
B
Yeah. So the things that I think work in their favor is a. I think that turns out Turner was no slouching competition to Terrence, point to the point where definitely that final three. First part of the HOH I remember was endurance, and we were all like, oh, yeah, is it going to come down to Taylor or Monty, considering that Taylor had won the previous endurance HOH and it was Turner that somehow hung onto that hot dog long enough. But what I really pride him and Megan alike, because Megan is an artist, is their attention to detail. Turner, of course, he's a thrift shop owner, but he had this business right, where he, like, made rugby bugs. And so I think that if they're. If and when there are tasks that are thrown their way that are like, I don't know if we're getting full shades of, like, find the one red bean in the pile of stuff, but, like, paying attention to how judges are doing things and then copying that display, I think that's something that could be in their wheelhouse paying attention to, like, what looks different than the other things. I think that's something that could be very much from their perspective as well. That does sort of play into what I think the biggest downside of them will be be. Which is, at least from Turner's perspective, he's a really easygoing guy. Again, he's very affable, but he doesn't necessarily have that, like, huge spike of adrenaline energy. I think a lot of the Amazing Race required, especially towards the pointy end of the game, I don't think he'll be like, yeah, we could just walk to, you know, the next task. But I don't know if I got a huge sense of, like, immediacy out of him as a person that would make it feel like him and Megan were, like, super competitive in the hunt, gunning for that first place prize every time.
C
He doesn't seem to have the hunger in a way that some of these other teams do.
B
Well, he's got a hungry. Just has to, you know, imbibe in something first before he feels that hunger. So we'll see Turner, Megan, they're going to be busing plane and training all the forms of transport here, and we'll see how they Do Taron Armstrong, the final choice comes down to you. You have your pick of two remaining teams. Who are you? Who are you choosing?
A
So I'm choosing between Cat. Cat Don and her boyfriend Alex, and Enzo and his brother Giacomo.
B
Yeah.
A
So, okay, here's the thing. Here's the thing about Enzo. Enzo has very famously played two times a big brother. He was in the final three in his first season. He made it to the final two in his second season. Very famously not a great competitor with Senzo. In addition to that, he went on and competed in the challenge where he very famously quit. In the final challenge, he had a partner. I believe it was Desi, who he just completely screwed over by. By quitting and then eliminated her as well. So not a lot of gumption there, I would say. Very well known for being a great social player strategically has been part of two very dominating structures.
B
But.
A
But on the Amazing Race, I just cannot have enough faith in his competitive ability. So I'm going to have to go with Kat and her boyfriend Alex. And that's not to say that I don't have faith in Kat. I just needed to explain why I was just never going to choose Enzo. I'm sorry.
B
You're really just giving the. Buttering up the audience. Like, don't you love what we gave you? And we'll. We'll talk about that in a bit, but why don't you give the. The four One. One on Kat and her boyfriend Alex.
A
So Cat competed in season 21. She was one of two pairs of people that knew each other on that season. She was working pretty closely with. With them. She was left on the outside of. Of, like, the majority for a while. She was, like, coming up with catchphrases and was definitely, like, an entertaining character. She. She ultimately got evicted just in a. In a bad spot. She was evicted because of just her. Her proximity to Holly and. And Jackson in a spot where, like, it might have been a good. You know, if she just managed to get through that bit, it might have been a. She was really improving her position there since her time in the game. Uh, she has, uh, she was doing a podcast for a while, and she's, like, definitely, like, talked to a lot of. Of for former alumni, develop some good relationships. I imagine that would probably help her in this. I don't know anything about her boyfriend here, but, you know, I think that. I think she's going to be a very fun player on the season. And I would say, like, if you're an Amazing Race fan and you are thinking about, like, Big Brother archetypes. She's probably the closest analog to, like, a Rachel Riley. Riley that will get on the season. And I mean that, I think, in a good way. Like a fun way.
B
Yeah. Good and fun. Which is how we like our Amazing Race in particular. Perspective. Yeah. I mean, I really want to focus on the point that you made about Kat is part of the Big Brother press circuit, that she has kind of been developing this over the past four or so years, and so she has developed relationships with a lot of these alumni that I don't know if you can say about a Natalie or an Enzo, but despite the fact that she hasn't been on the show going on six years at this point point, and despite the fact that, you know, she's not primarily located in California, where it seems like a lot of the continual pool of alumni continues to grow, like, she is certainly making dynamics with a lot of people in the Big Brother community, and I think that could definitely help her in situations where she's not necessarily being seen as, like, this huge unknown factor. Right. She's someone that maybe everyone could feel, all right, I have something good with Kat, and so therefore that's going to make her less likely to be targeted if anything pops up. Up. Jess, any thoughts about Kat and Alex here?
C
Well, I think it's interesting that she's a podcaster and I, you know, not to toot our own horn, Mike, but in recent seasons of Amazing Race, there have been at least two winning teams that have said that one of the things they did to prepare was listen to hours and hours of us jawing about Amazing Race. So if she knows we're out there, maybe she did some studying. Yeah, I don't. I don't get a vibe from these people at all. And, you know, there's kind of three types of couples on Amazing Race. You have your couple who's the, like the young wholesome couple, and you have the drama couple, and you have, like, the elder statesman married parents couple. And these two, like, maybe I could see them being drama couple, but I don't really know much about her personality enough to speak on whether I think that would translate to Amazing Race. But if she's got Rachel Riley vibes, I'm here for it.
B
Yeah, I mean, we'll see if she walks up upon the other teams while they're just, like, waiting at a roadblocket asking, are you bitches conspiring against me? Repeat those same mistakes. Alex, from what we know, apparently is a professional photographer, so I don't know Maybe he'll get distracted by the cameras and trying to ask, like, what lenses that they use, but it seems like they're in a very healthy, loving relationship. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that, like, they're going to be completely copacetic on the Amazing Race. This might be one of our, like, hot mess couple teams, but, yeah, I think that Cat is definitely one of those. Again, more unknown factors. She is the only one returning from her season, but I think socially she might be one of the most, like, firmly placed people in the hierarchy of things. Taryn, you laid out such a beautiful case as to why Enzo and Giacomo may not, for the first time in Enzo's reality TV history, make a final, though, just. That is a tough streak to break.
C
It is. But on the other hand, he's made a final, but he hasn't won.
B
It's true. It's true. I know. I mean, for what it's worth, these seem to be, again, for a very much younger cast, just due to the alumni that they were bringing on. This seems to be our, like, oldest team, I would imagine, by average age. I don't know a lot about Giacomo, so. So listen, Enzo was. Was able to win a couple of competitions in Big Brother 22, and I would be happily surprised if the Meow Meow shows to have multiple lives in this show as well, but it's not necessarily something I'm banking on right now.
A
I'll say this, too, that Enzo, again, very well known for, like, getting into very dominant alliances. This cast, to me, just doesn't seem to mix. Mix well with Enzo. I don't know anybody on this cast who, like, knows him super well already, and not a lot of person, like, he really gets along with the bros, and there's just not a lot of bros. There are a lot of brothers on the cast, but not a lot of, like, bros on the cast, if you know what I mean. And so I. I just don't know that he'll find many allies either, you know, in. In this. In this particular field. So, like, like, it's just. It's just hard to find a good way in for him.
B
Yeah.
C
And on one hand, alliances mean a little bit less. On Amazing Race. They don't mean nothing, but they mean less. On the other hand, that's been such a big part of how he gets anywhere in any game that not having them, not having potential alliance partners is still going to hurt him.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah. So I also think that, that, you know, when it comes to Enzo in particular, I could imagine Just a similar trajectory as to, like, what happened with Art and JJ in the Amazing Race.
C
That was exactly who I was thinking.
B
Actually another team that the season that featured a lot of Big Brother presence were like, these were guys who dominated the first season they were part of actually were on the same season as Rachel and Brendan the first time and then just, like, really flamed out. We're clearly, like, sticking out a bit like a sore thumb in terms of being significantly older than a lot of their competition and went out in the first, like, leg. I would not be surprised in the least if it happens to Enzo and Jacobo. If not, this could possibly be our, like, fun, bumbling brothers that we get to see race around the world for three months at a time. So either way, we will see how it goes. But just to recap the full draft, Taryn ends the draft with Taylor and Kylan, Hannah and Simone, Chelsea and Jack and Kat and Alex. I end the draft with Tucker and Eric, Joseph and Adam, Natalie and Stephanie and the Turners. And Jess finishes with Izzy and Paige, Jag and Jess, Robina and Christine and Angela and Lexi. How are we feeling right now, Jess? How you doing? Now that you're a little bit more educated as to the resumes of these.
C
People, I think I feel much better about the cast. I think this is a fun group of people. I'm confident in my picks. I like that I'm gone, like, 75% FEMA. Like, there's a lot of female teams on this cast. Yeah, that's exciting. And I feel like I'm not going in completely blind, and I appreciate that.
B
Taren, what about you as our huge Big Brother expert? Is this change your opinion about the cast at all, getting Jess's sort of perspective on the Amazing Race side of things?
A
I mean, it's always good to get a more, like, Amazing Race oriented perspective, I think on. On these players. I was very, very interested to know about, like, some of the statistics for the team types. I definitely think that, you know what the. The teams I'm really looking at, I'm looking at Jag and Jazz, you know, I'm looking at Tucker and his brother, you know, as. As sort of like really top contenders. But. But I'm very happy with my team because if anybody on my team won, I'd be. I'd be over the moon.
B
There you go. It's quite literally a win win.
C
Can I just say that I am in a position of supreme privilege here as an Amazing Race person going into a Big Brother Amazing Race season, because who else among Amazing Race fans in the world would get to receive their big brother context from Taron Armstrong.
B
Exactly. Exactly. He is your conduit at this moment. And, Taryn, thank you for providing your perspective.
C
What a resource. What a resource you are, sir.
A
Thank you.
B
All right, so again, this is going in the vault. We have no idea what is going to happen with this season when it's going to air, but we want to make sure we kind of put verbal pen to paper before any of the results start dripping out through, you know, social media. And also, people don't do that, you know, where we don't want to necessarily spoil the outcome for people out there because I want to see how all this goes down, whether it be the fall, the spring, what have you.
A
You.
B
It's kind of impossible to ask you both to plug anything because again, we have no idea when this podcast will release. I don't know. Are there any bold predictions for 2025 that we want to put out there? Any.
C
Let's manifest some things, Mike.
B
Yeah, let's manifest some stuff. What will be the top grossing movie of at the time. That. Of the year so far at the time that this. This. This season's being released? Boy, let's see. I will. Let's see. We got like a Jurassic World is coming out again. We got the Superman film. We've got a Fantastic Four as well. Is it going to be a Marvel movie?
A
I think Superman is going to hit.
C
I want the Superman to be good.
A
I think it's going to be. I think it's going to hit. Yeah.
B
All right. I. I'll go. Yeah, I'm not gonna go. And I'll go Marvel here. I'll go Fantastic Four. I think that Pedro Pascal is going to bring everybody back.
A
I do also think Fantastic Four is going to do well.
C
Yeah. I mean, it's their. It's their, like, fourth attempt at making a Fantastic Four times the charm. I. I can't imagine it's going to be better than the Roger Corman. I'm just. It just can't.
A
I mean, even so far, I think the marketing has been. Has been good for that one, so.
B
True.
C
True.
B
How about this? What will have the better second season? The Last of Us or Andor.
A
Ooh, I think the Last of Us.
C
Yeah, Last of Us, I'm going to say.
B
Andor. I think if, you know, the video games. Last of Us, Season two or game two of the Last of Us, a little contentious. I would not be surprised if that discourse carries over.
A
I don't disagree But I think it at least has a strong foundation where like andor it could be amazing or it could be like it was a little bit of a one hit wonder, you know what I mean?
B
Oh, okay. Let's see. I'll do, I'll do one final one here while we're focusing on TV. What will win best drama at the 2025 Emmys this year?
A
Severance.
B
We are, we're talking actually the day after the season two finale.
C
Haven't seen it yet. No spoilers.
A
Watch the finale yet.
B
I say there's a rhythm component involved. That's all I will mention. If you have not seen the stuff that's gone viral today.
A
Yeah, I mean I, I think the, something like the Pit could be nominated and could be in contention.
B
Yeah, I mean it's tough because we've got that, I think Last of Us, if it has a very popular reception, could be up there and, or Mike.
A
And those are so genre though that it's like, I don't know if they'll win.
B
Yeah. I mean Handmaid's Tale, I think it's coming back for its final season, but maybe at a time where people don't want to necessarily check out that content. I asked for Emmys. Like Emmys. The drama Emmys. I think in particular because like, if we know comedy, it's probably going to be the Bear or Hacks. This one's a little bit White Lotus as well. Like, I don't know, actually I feel like, oh, how about this? Let's make a prediction right now. If either one of you are watching the White Lotus who dies in the White Lotus Season 3.
C
I am not watching the White Lotus.
B
Okay. I think it is going to be, I will say in honor of Sam Rockwell's Internet breaking monologue, I will say is Leslie Bibbs character in the White Lotus dies in season three.
A
I was thinking it might be one of the women, the three women friends because they're, they have like the least dangerous storyline so far, which makes me think that they're the most endangered.
B
You want to take your, you want to pick Leslie Bibb as well or do you want to pick one of the other two?
A
You know what, I'll go with. Oh, God, I don't remember the woman from the Leftovers.
B
Yeah.
A
Carrie Coon.
B
Yeah. She's got other HBO shows to be on. So we shall see if those predictions come true and if our predictions for the. The general timbre of the Amazing Race 38 will come true and who will reign supreme whenever that season comes about. You can check out these lovely people on social media as they will be talking about all of these types of shows that exist on the airwaves even before the Amazing Race comes about. Just where can people follow you?
C
You can find me on Blue sky at jesslease and Instagram. I'm still haymaker.
B
Hattie and Taran will either be probably just coming off of a Big Brother season or lying. You know, in a few months of this sort of period of reflection before Big Brother is thrust into our lives once again. How can people catch up with everything you're doing?
A
Find me on Twitch and YouTube and Twitter and Blue sky if you want to find me. I would hope that by the time this is released, I will have been prom something that you can buy so you can hopefully find that on my social media. Okay, listen and check it out and, and hopefully, hopefully you'll enjoy it. So go, go, go find it if it's there.
B
That is probably the. The ultimate, you know, bump set. Spike here is a big project from the two people that I had the great pleasure of joining me for this draft. You can follow everything I'm doing at a Mike Bloom type. And again, there's a lot of unknown out there, but what is known is that I'll probably, probably still be talking into this microphone about reality television, no matter what the date of the year might be. But regardless, I hope people enjoyed this flashback, as it were, to a very different time as these people were, but names and pictures upon our screens before we actually see them start their race around the world. As we embark upon this grand experiment in CBS reality TV and see what results lie, let us know your thoughts. Thoughts. Who's your winner? Pick. What do you think about the teams that we drafted? Who do you think has the winning bunch? We shall see in due time as The Amazing Race 38 is premiering imminently at the time you're listening to this, but for now, we lie in wait. Thank you all so much for listening. Jess, Taran, thank you. As per usual, until next time, everybody. Take care. Bye bye. Yo, this is important, man. My favorite Lululemon shorts, the ones you got me back in the day, I think they're called pace breakers, the ones with all the pockets. I just got back from vacation and I left them in my hotel room. And, dude, I need to replace these shorts. I wear them like three times a week. Could you send me the link to where you got them? Oh, also, my birthday is coming up soon, so. Anyways, thanks, bro. Talk soon. Looking for your newest Go to's Lululemon what's New Gear drops on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, head to lululemon.com to shop what's New Gear.
Episode Date: September 17, 2025
Panel: Mike Bloom (Host), Jessica Liese, Taran Armstrong
This special preseason episode dives into the unique “Big Brother” crossover theme of The Amazing Race 38: European Adventure, where every team features at least one former Big Brother houseguest. Mike, Jessica, and Taran conduct a spoiler-free draft of the 13 teams—recorded six months in advance to avoid the inevitable leaks and speculation from the Big Brother fandom. Together, they break down whether reality TV experience gives teams an edge, analyze the cast's dynamics, and discuss which pairs could go far racing around Europe.
Quote:
"We are doing an RHAP classic, people—a draft. So I got together with our Amazing Race chief correspondent Jessica Liese and our Big Brother chief correspondent Taran Armstrong ... to do our own draft of the 13 teams racing around Europe."
—Mike Bloom [06:45]
Quote:
"Big Brother people are very good on The Amazing Race typically... It levels the playing field somewhat... Once you've had Big Brother Twitter on your head, you don't really worry about how you're going to come across on the screen."
—Jessica Liese [15:21]
Quote:
"She has always done well... Taylor is someone who is going to have a lot of connections... as long as they are able to work together well, I think this could be an absolutely lethal team this season."
—Mike Bloom [28:14]
(22:20–29:27)
Quote:
"The thing about Tucker ... not only taking big risks, but also a little bit known for having a little bit of a hot head... I could definitely see Tucker getting frustrated... That could be his Achilles heel."
—Taran Armstrong [31:00]
(29:55–37:50)
Quote:
"Izzy is a very fun personality. I’m hoping this is a case where we see not only her personality truly shine, but alongside the person she loves more than anything..."
—Mike Bloom [43:30]
"Identical twins tend not to do as well on Amazing Race... but Jag played so well. He's a great player, and he's good at competitions, social, smart..."
—Jessica Liese [44:52]
(37:58–47:54)
Quote:
"Tucker strikes me as the kind of guy that would stay back to help Rubina in a challenge if she’s still going. He’d be like, 'I’m willing to take that risk, let’s work together.'"
—Taran Armstrong [37:36]
Quote:
"Father/daughter teams do tend to do very well... and knowing how good Chelsea is as a competitor ... speaks well for them."
—Jessica Liese [62:51]
Quote:
"Angela is pure chaos. Who sews chaos wherever she goes... she is drama personified."
—Jessica Liese [75:29]
On former contestants' camera savvy:
“You know what they're looking for in terms of how to behave in front of a camera ... once you've had Big Brother Twitter on your head, you don't really worry about how you're going to come across.”
—Jessica Liese [15:21]
Taran on this season’s “alliances”:
"Amazing Race fans are probably gonna hate this... Big Brother fans approach this differently... There might be a lot of weirdness."
—Taran Armstrong [14:20]
Jessica’s “Izzy and Paige” party story:
“They convinced me so thoroughly... I walked out of there thinking, when this cast drops, it's gonna suck because Izzy and Paige aren't on it... and look at this. They're on it. So kudos to them.”
—[38:25]
Panel on “targeting” in The Amazing Race:
“Targeting is something that happens less often in Amazing Race... You still have to be good at racing. You can't coast on somebody else’s skills for the entire time.”
—Jessica Liese [74:21]
Quote:
"We want to make sure we put verbal pen to paper before any of the results start dripping out... We want to see how all this goes down, whether it be the fall, the spring, what have you."
—Mike Bloom [100:08]
For weekly recaps, exit interviews, and more Amazing Race content, subscribe at Weknowamazingrace.com or the RHAP YouTube channel.
This summary captures all the major draft analysis, strategic debates, and predictions made by the panel, structured for those who have not listened but want a full, detailed understanding of this preseason “Big Brother meets The Amazing Race” event.