Aubry Bracco Talks Big Brother 28

[00:00:08] Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Cesternino back here with you. We've got a fun bonus podcast for you here today. Of course, we're back here with Taryn Armstrong. Taryn, how are you? Doing great, Rob. Very excited to be here today. Sure. How could you not be? Because we are here with the winner of Survivor 50 and somebody who has played Survivor with two people from the cast of Big Brother 28.

[00:00:34] It is a former Entertainment Weekly reporter covering Big Brother. It's Aubrey Bracco. Aubrey, how are you? I'm great. Thanks for having me. Thanks, Dalton, for making me that reporter back in the day. I'm great. Yes. Is there anybody that's on the Survivor beat on Entertainment Weekly or has Dalton jumped in himself because Rick Devin's involvement? You know something? I'm not sure. I think Dalton's probably covering it.

[00:01:03] He's in it. Him and Rick Devin's are close, so I think that that would make sense. Oh, yeah. And you know Rick's going to be there, so something's going to go wild. Yeah. It's always fun. Thanks for having me. Taryn, I have to ask, does your caffeine consumption go up week by week? Where are you in the chart? It has. I'm not much of a caffeine person generally, but it has started already. Okay.

[00:01:31] Just this morning, I had a tiny bit. So it generally, yeah, will probably go up. Well, depending on the season. Sometimes it goes down over the course of time. Last season, not as much. Yeah. Okay. I was just curious how that works. Like, do you see yourself devolve as the days go on? I was physically ragged by the end of season 27. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. It's just fun.

[00:01:59] It is a grind, Big Brother, that I was saying earlier on another call that it's wild that two weeks ago we didn't have the cast. We did not even know who these people were. I know. And now I cannot remember a time when it wasn't Big Brother 28. No, it's so, it is funny. It is wild. And I look back at my first tweet of the season, it was like, yay, Lala. I'm like, Lala's not working with any of the people that I like.

[00:02:25] Like, that's the magic of the beginning of any first season. I remember even thinking this on 50. It's like, you're in Ponderosa. You're like, anything could happen. It's like, you don't know the cast. Anything could happen. And here we are. It's like, we've been old friends for far too long with some of these people. Well, Aubrey, this is not your first Big Brother rodeo, certainly. But also not the first that you have watched one of your survivor friends compete. How is this experience compared to watching Ceri play in Big Brother 25?

[00:02:53] Oh my gosh. It's wild. I have gotten to play with every single survivor crossover, not the Alliance. Every single player who's crossed over from survivor to Big Brother. So, Ceri, when Ceri was on, I was a little bit less connected from the reality television world. So it was like, oh, here I am with an old friend.

[00:03:15] But I'm saying, I've just been like in the 50 slog with Dee and Devens. And I'm like, really feeling the, I'm like feeling anxiety. I'm like, don't, don't do that. What do you don't know? Just don't listen to that person. Like I was invested with Ceri, but more of a like casual viewer. Now I've got to like, I'm chomping at the bit over here. I'm like, I'm like, I wish I could talk to him. I can't, I talk to him. Yeah. All right. Well, we're all dying to know what, what's been your reaction to watching Devens so far?

[00:03:42] Oh, I am so happy for Devens. Like, I just wanted to say like on season 38, Devens was magic to watch. I never played with him in the game proper. I mean, the theme's not on trial. It's all still the game. I don't want to hear it, but I never played with him in the game. I met him on the edge of extinction and then I was on his jury and I got to see the magic that was Devens just doing his Devens thing.

[00:04:07] And so I felt after 38, I was like, man, like sometimes like people were a little harsh on him or he didn't get the reception. I thought he necessarily deserved in the long tail. Maybe it was because of COVID and streaming and we went on to other things, but it's been really nice for me to see Devens now kind of getting his due. Like Survivor 50 Devens was just like an even better version than 38 Devens. But to me, it's the same guy.

[00:04:34] So I'm like, it's fun to see people receiving him as like this icon. I call him Betts, but icon that he is because I think he is. Yeah, it's been a wild week and we've really seen Rick Devens as Rizzo once said, Rick Devens doing Rick Devens things. What have you thought about Rick's HOH run? You know, I'm going to I'm going to need your help here because this is the thing about Big Brother. It feels I get like scrambled.

[00:05:03] And this is where I think the pacing thing of a Survivor player versus a Big Brother player comes in. There's like too much time that you create a plan and then you're like, you don't you go over here. I was proud of Rick that he won it. I I really liked the idea to make a big move because of anything. I want Devens to play true to himself. I know that's what he values. I know that's important to him. I also think it's been really interesting.

[00:05:29] We've been seeing more of like Devens, his fluidity in the game that I think we saw or his fluidity and thinking about the game that I think we see like on 50 when he's talking to Joe, who's like more rigid, it's this or that. And Devens is like, let me do my thing. We're seeing that in a more like front and center way than I think we've ever seen on Survivor that like Frick feels good with you and he's loyal to you. He's going to hear what you have to say and be like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:05:54] But it's been interesting to watch him like take people's opinions in so much. I just want him to stay centered on what's right for him. But I think he's done great. I mean, I'm always going to I'm always going to like support my friend's decisions. But I'm like, go ahead, Taryn. Sorry. It's it's so interesting to me watching Devens, who I think, yeah, he had this mentality of like, I'm going to make this big move. We're going to go after Rome. It's going to be great. Blindside, whatever.

[00:06:22] But like on Survivor, especially the new era, you know, seven days is like a third of the season. It's like not very long. It's very, very long in the context of Survivor season. And on Survivor, when you blindside somebody, when you make a big move against them, usually it's either you or like somebody gets eliminated. Then you have to like deal with them much more in the future. But he made this big move.

[00:06:50] And but now Rome's still there for an entire week and might stay there. He doesn't even know yet, depending on what happens to the blockbuster. And I think that like that's kind of in his head a little bit. And I think that when it comes to the veto decision as well, which I'm sure we'll talk about, I think also like it's this, you know, similar Survivor mentality of like this is the thing right in front of me and not realizing that on Big Brother, there's like an additional thing a few days later.

[00:07:18] And I think that's really interesting because we also saw that with Sari, who also played a very different kind of Big Brother game that was so Survivor pilled and so quick and so kind of like, you know, rapid fire, replace my allies when I need to. And similarly, that eventually didn't work out for her. So, yeah, it's been interesting. Yeah, I very much. I do see the Survivor aspect of it.

[00:07:46] I kept thinking to myself, if this was a Survivor game, I could tell that Rick felt genuinely comfortable with Rome. I'm like, he would have kept Rome that night if it was just Survivor and no one else had spoken to him first. Like it just it things have a way of just turning and then turning on one another. Like the only thing similar in Survivor I've experienced is season 50 when the Mr. Beast night that that was such a chaotic day at camp.

[00:08:13] It was this Big Brother week is as if every conversation that afternoon was blasted over a loudspeaker. So it's funny because I think the Survivor players can logically know that there's more time. But I think when you've played multiple times Survivor, it's like ingrained in your body and you just move that way. You get itchy. They're up till four in the morning, the night he wins HOH. Like you said you had to sleep, buddy. Go to sleep like you do. You don't have to run out of the room in that moment. Like great TV.

[00:08:43] And that's what Rick's making first and foremost. But I'm like, you guys have a week of this. You're going to go nuts. Yeah. On Survivor with like a shorter time period, you're still like going to bed. Right. It's hard to stay up too late, I imagine. Well, it's pitch dark. Like literally like you can't tell if your eyes are open or closed. So at a point and you're also so taxed because you don't eat anything that you're out. So.

[00:09:08] Aubrey, now you work very closely with Rick throughout your time in season 50. I find that Rick in watching him in this Big Brother season, I think that and also from season 50 of Survivor, I feel like that he likes working with others more so than being a solo operator. And he really wants to bounce ideas off of people. Was that your experience with him? Yeah.

[00:09:36] I mean, that's actually one of the things that I think we are so similar in certain ways where we can love a dose of chaos. But I was like Survivor 50. I'm a lone wolf. Everybody leave me alone. Then I'd be like, Aubrey, this is a social game. You have to play with people. Rick loves nothing more. He says it himself. The only thing Rick loves more than making chaos is making chaos with his people.

[00:09:57] Like Rick's ideal game is he's like it's like this circus and he wants all of his players and his friends. And it's like a jolly good debaucherous time. It's like the Roman Empire. Let's see what we can mess up. And he wants to have fun with everybody. He just like he loves it. He loves it. He loves it. And it's interesting. But I'm like, buddy, this you're you're number one. You are number one.

[00:10:24] Because like watching D and Devens at the very beginning, this is the first night I saw an episode. I was like, I think Rick could like take this. But will he cut D? I don't think he will. Because he cares about his people. Yeah, I do think that is a long term problem for him. I think that D is somebody that is probably a little more likely to command respect in the end.

[00:10:51] And probably, oh, granted, we've seen Devens do well in competition. So he might not be quite as in a deficit there as we might have thought coming into the season. But but yeah, like getting to that end game. I think we've seen D, who is a very team focused player, be very capable of toward the end game being like, OK, now I'm now I'm going to make the moves I need to make. Whereas Devens has never really had to do that before. And he's always played from the bottom. Yeah.

[00:11:21] What do you think about him playing from the bottom? Like he's always on the bottom. It feels like in Survivor. What do you think about now, Taron or Rob, about that aspect? Well, we were talking about this last night that I was talking about how Rick's never been in a position of power. He doesn't necessarily know what to do in terms of his Survivor career. He's always having to come from behind. And so this week was really the first opportunity that we saw that he's calling the shots. And I think that he's a little bit learning on the job.

[00:11:51] Yeah, I think so, too. I mean, I think that like we see this happen on Big Brother a lot, you know, and usually you don't come from a Survivor background. But there are people who spent a lot of time and Taylor Hale is a great example of this, actually, who like spent a huge portion of her game on the bottom and then gets included in the leftovers, wins an HOH. And all of a sudden it's like, wait, what am I? I'm in power. Hold on.

[00:12:17] And has a bit of a messy HOH train before kind of locking back in. And we see this a lot. People who get used to playing from the bottom, they get used to a certain persona, a certain way of operating. And then once they get into power, they screw up their whole game. And they don't even realize why.

[00:12:36] Because it's a whole different way of playing when you're operating from this position of power, especially in Big Brother, where, you know, there are so many mechanisms that you can and levers that you can pull to operate things well. Totally agree. And I relate to that. Like I've been on the bottom a lot when I played Survivor. And I do remember there have been a handful of times where I was in power, in power.

[00:13:02] I don't even like to call it that because whenever I'm at the top, I assume I'm at the bottom again because I'm like, it's going to go south if it's good. Like that's how I'm like trained to think. So I agree with you. And everyone's saying he's chaotic now. I'm like, oh, just you wait till he's on the block. You don't want to see it. It's going to be wild. Yeah. This is what he's doing when he's the HOH. Imagine when he's desperate. But Aubrey, I'd love to know your thoughts on D.

[00:13:28] I know you didn't play together for too long in season 50, but did you have a relationship with D in season 50? Oh my gosh. I barely played with D. I was with her a day or two. I respect D so much. She just has, it just like oozes off of her. This bubbly, like effusive, bubbly, like seltzer water and a lovely flavor. She makes you feel good. You respect her. You want to play with her. I love D. She's so strong.

[00:13:58] She's like how I would strive to play. Like in some ways I'm realizing that she, there is a sereneness to her in how she plays. And how she moves and how people intuitively, like the level at which D understands people is at like this deep intuitive place. And she can connect with literally anyone. Like I was definitely like of all the people on 50, I'm like, whoa, D. Like in pregame, like, whoa, it just scares me. She's so good. I'll be my friend. D is doing a great job.

[00:14:28] She can work with, and that's what I like about her and Rick. They can both work with a totally wild range of people. I really respect that about both D and Devin's. I think that D is like an entrepreneur when she plays. She's super creative. She's super like roll with the punches, workshop it. It's a little bit of a different style than Rick, but they do have some of the same sentimentality. So all praise for D. I think she's an incredible player.

[00:14:56] I think she's right up there with the very best in Survivor history. Yeah, I'm seeing that with the ability to get along and connect with so many different people. Like really the only people in the game that have any amount of ill will towards D are the people she nominated, which like, and even some of them, most of them are fine with her again. Taylor's mostly fine with her again. Yash is mostly fine with her again.

[00:15:24] It's really Mallory who is holding the biggest grudge. But I think, you know, even that's like, I think half because she was nominated, half because she's like, Barrett, don't go to D. Stay with me. And so, you know, but that's a very good hit rate, especially for having been HOH. Yeah, it's good. I mean, I noticed that she's very good at, she says what she wants, she's direct about it. And then she kind of just like cultivates those relationships.

[00:15:52] She's really smart about knowing who she needs to talk to next and what they need. So she's really smart like that. She's also really good at identifying threats. I'm very curious. When we get to Lyric, I'm so curious what you think because D doesn't seem overly threatened by her spots that Melody is a good player. So I think generally D has a very good read of the situation. She knows what she has to do. Her intuition is sharp. Yeah. I mean, you bring it up.

[00:16:22] What do you think about D's relationship with Lyric? I mean, I, how do they not see what we see or like what I see? I'm like, they did not break up. What are you talking about? Like, I kind of felt like, I'm like, Lyric's got some mist. It's not the kind of mist I'm used to. It's not the kind that like, I've necessarily played with.

[00:16:48] But I, I'm just, I'm like, how are we talking about taking Lyric off the block as of whenever we're talking? Has that changed since I saw it? Are we still taking Lyric off the block? So as of right now, the feeds are down for the ceremony and the plan is pretty locked in. Lyric is likely coming off the block as we speak. Um, and when the feeds come back, I expect her to be down and Rome to be up. Do you think that is D's doing? Because I know Kamu wanted Melody off the block.

[00:17:17] Like, I think Kamu's actually, however you feel about him, he's playing a, he's moving in a very grounded, logical way through the game. He wanted Melody off the block, right? So this is D and Angela. What I saw was D and Angela really were like, yo, this is the deal. And this is who we want off the block. And Rick is loyal, so loyal. And he ultimately went with their plan.

[00:17:40] So the, the, from my perspective, uh, how this came together, uh, I'll mostly credit Lyric for it because she basically managed to separately convince four different people. Uh, Chuck, Haley, D and Devens all separately came to the conclusion that they wanted Lyric off the block. When D and Devens came together and, and they were like, oh, we both already agree that we want Lyric off the block. Uh, they were able to convince Angela who got firmly on board.

[00:18:08] Then Chuck talked Devens out of it, or sorry, uh, Kamu talked Devens out of it briefly. Only for, uh, Rome to kind of come in and seal the deal with Devens again. Uh, and with D having never been convinced the other way around also was a reinforcement. No, we should, we still should take Lyric off the block. Interesting. Um, and so, and Angela was the same that they were able to, to kind of get him back on board.

[00:18:35] But I will say that I think that even in the time he was like temporarily convinced to do melody, I think he was very reluctant to do so without full approval from D, which he never fully got. Which is part of why he was so easily swayed back into the Lyric direction. Yeah, it's, um, it's interesting. And then behind every decision is like another person, like the Drew of it all. I noticed knowing Rick, I could tell he felt very comfortable with Drew off the bat.

[00:19:04] So, and I also thought he seemed really comfortable with Rome, which is why it was interesting to me that there, I don't know. I got a lot of feelings about it because I know Rick can work with anybody. I saw him actually being able to work Rome pretty well and, uh, it's just gonna be an interesting week. I like, I don't, I don't quite know what to say about that. It's, it's interesting. Yeah. Well, Aubrey, how do you think it should all go this week? How do I think it should go? Oof.

[00:19:32] I mean, I would love, so I'm really liking the way Drew is playing. I know he's wigging people out. I know that it's like a little heavy handed in moments. Um, Angela compared him to Andy Heron. I love Andy. And it's not good though. If you think he's Andy Heron at the beginning of the game, it should be much later. Yes. That is bad. Like Andy and I were actually talking about that a little bit.

[00:19:55] Um, but I see Drew as like potentially someone that like the vets could put like as a threat in front of them if they think he's kind of playing the middle. If other people feel that way, I, I would have, I, I think Melody is someone who could work really well with Dee and Devens and Angela. I don't want Melody to go, but I think she might. It's, it's definitely possible.

[00:20:24] Um, you know, right. Cause right now basically the, the target is Rome, but if he wins the blockbuster, the backup is Jason. But Jason's been putting in a lot of work with people like Angela and Dee. Um, they really don't like Melody and they don't like her connection to Drew. So I am personally expecting some kind of push at some point for Melody to be the backup over Rome.

[00:20:49] Um, and, and the funny part about that though, is that like, that was such an easy play they could have made without any of the spectacle, without any of the exposing themselves to Rome and all of this stuff. Melody was somebody the other side was happy to throw under the bus to them. It could have been Melody. It could have even been Lala and Lyric. It could have been whatever Devens wanted. He could have kept his deal with Rome. They could have kept the, they wouldn't have had to have that meeting in the HOH room.

[00:21:19] Um, they could have easily taken Melody out. It wouldn't have even been as upsetting to Drew, I think in that moment, because, uh, it was like, well, what are we going to do? She's the one that stopped the Ashley vote from happening. Uh, but with all of this stuff that went down to go back to Melody would feel like such a, like, what did we do all that for then? It's like, we ran everybody over. Then we backed the bus back over them a little bit. Uh, so yeah, it's, it's a little, yeah, it's a little, it could be precarious.

[00:21:47] I mean, best case for Devens is that Rome goes home. I did feel for him when he was like, are you guys sure everyone's going to vote for Rome? Like I have been in that position in my life where I'm like, this is what we're going to do. I'm leading the revolution with a torch in my hand. And I look back and nobody's following me. Like that would be my worst nightmare scenario for him. I don't think that's what's happening, but, uh, yeah, it's, it's a little funny. It's not, it's not the cleanest thing I've ever seen. That's for sure.

[00:22:14] And the thing that's been really encouraging for me watching Rick is like, I've heard people say like, Rick's a man of his, Devens is a man of his word. I know him as Rick. Sorry. Rick Devens, Devens, Rick, Rick is a man of his word. Like I like the convert. I like the way he's playing. Like, that's fine. Like Rick, I think Kamu was in the storage room being like, yeah, like just in Haley, they were like, Rick really like pulled a solid for us. Like, I'm really happy and encouraged to hear people talking about him this way. And I'm like, keep, keep it clean. Keep it clean. Like hopefully Rome doesn't win the blog post.

[00:22:45] Aubrey, I'd love to ask you about Angela. And now did you see Angela in big brother 26? Did you watch that season? So I didn't watch that full season, but oh, have I watched crazy eyes more than a few times? Sure. Okay. I was wondering if you thought that maybe Angela, who's a survivor watcher, seemed to have a really keen understanding of Rick because I thought in the episode last night when she

[00:23:13] talked about how she knows Rick's a showman, she knew what, what notes to hit and she did get him to see the light pretty quick. Yeah. When she used the word showman, I was like, was she spying on conversations we've had that are like the survivor live feeds? Cause that's how I would, you know, describe him. He described himself that way. She, yeah, I feel like she studied him. I really, really do. Yeah.

[00:23:41] And I think that she got him to go into full Rick Devin's mode and, and maybe make a move that wasn't necessarily the best move for him. I agree. Like I said, I, when I saw Rick with Rome, I was watching live when they're at the chess board, that very first conversation. And some people are like, he's pouring it on thick to Rome. I'm like, nah, Rick's doing exactly what he needs to do for this guy right now. And I know that Rick can really connect with that type.

[00:24:11] And then when I heard, I'm like, oh, whoa, we're going to Rome. But I thought you had a good rapport with him. What's going on? And it really was Angela. Like no one just what to say. She's a wild player. Also her and Jason. I'm like, okay, first of all, cliffhanger for the episode. I want to see what we missed before the feeds back went back up the other night. But I'm like, are Angela and Jason just going to like duo up and run this thing at a point? Like, I don't know what to think with the two. They're like these real mismatched twin flames or something.

[00:24:41] It's crazy. Yeah. I think Angela really, I mean, she said it to Jason early in that conversation where she was so hurt. She said, they put you on this season for me. And I really do think that this is part of Angela's mentality this season, which is like, I am the sole big brother returnee, which is part of why she was so mad when Rachel was almost in the cast. I'm the sole big brother returnee.

[00:25:10] Like this season is for me. Because that's kind of how it works. I mean, she was guaranteed her or one of her probably built in allies. One's the first HOH. Fan voted powers where she's the first one to get it. She's like, they want me to do well on this season. I'm sure they told her they wanted to do well on this season. And she's like, they cast Jason for me. And then she was so hurt when he was playing her.

[00:25:36] But I think she wants to make it work because she really wants to have Jason as an ally. And so she will do, I think, whatever she can to brute force him into being an ally of hers at whatever the cost is. Yeah, I see that. I mean, when you come back and as you're a returning player, you do understand like the meta aspect of it and that kind of thing. Like you're thinking that way. It's been funny to hear Jason being like, he's getting all the air time.

[00:26:05] I'm like, oh my gosh, this is wild. Survivor 38 all over again. That kind of thing. Well, can you talk a little bit about your experience there? Because you came into a situation where, you know, when these types of scenarios happened in the past, we saw where the new players really gravitated to the returning players. Certainly in Survivor of Redemption Island, Survivor of South Pacific.

[00:26:30] But at the time that you played in a pseudo-captain season, there was a bit of a backlash to the players who are the returning faves. Oh, yeah. I mean, Mallory is raising my hackles. I'm like, get out of here. Don't want you here. Like I could like you. I could think you're fun. Any other time, go away. No, I can't deal. It reminded me of Survivor 38 where I was like very evident off the jump that we were like, I felt like I was in somebody else's house.

[00:27:00] Like it wasn't like I crashed a wedding. It's like I had entered someone's house and was pretending I live there and they're like, get the hell out of my house. That's how it felt with the newbies on Survivor 38. And then I was like so distressed by that that I wanted to believe that they wanted me there, which is why I went out as I did. But it's very much the same thing. And then the whole airtime thing comes into it. Like my wild reactions on the jury to me, like sincerely, it was the only control I had at that point in the game. And I was like, you know what? You screwed me.

[00:27:29] So I'm going to steal the airtime from you because I know that and you don't. And it reminds me of Jason about airtime and Mallory like you played Survivor twice. What do you need to be here? I'm like, it's like there's a war for another for something else. And that is they know what they have an idea of what's going on. Like I thought it was interesting. Jason was a mess because he thought he was going to get the RuPaul's Drag Race fans to give him the what's the advantage called?

[00:27:58] The BB time capsule. The BB time capsule. And he was like, shoot, my perspective, my perception of this is all off. But it's like a perception head game. Yeah. What do you think about Angela in terms of being a long term ally with Rick and Dee? Do you feel like that this is going to last the season or do you feel like that there's maybe some fractures?

[00:28:29] Yeah. So it's really interesting. I was actually texting Kelly, Kelly Wentworth. And I was like, do you think Angela is closer to Dee or closer to Rick? Or do you think Rick and Dee are still closest to each other? What's going on? I'm not quite sure. I think that Angela is going to do what she thinks is best for her. I think she's really vibing with Dee. Like they're getting very Sandra Diaz twine villainous with like the honey, whatever was going on in the storage room. I'm like, oh boy. Pranks. Woo. And then I saw when.

[00:28:57] You don't have time for pranks on Survivor. As some people did. And apparently I was not. Well, I guess that wasn't a prank. It was a very strategic move. Yes. We don't really have time for pranks. And I, but I did see how I felt like Angela really connected with Rick when Rick initially told her about the Red Corner Alliance. Yeah. And I was like, ooh, he does kind of understand what she needs to feel good.

[00:29:27] But now it's like Angela studied Rick. And I'm like, right now I'm kind of feeling like Dee is the most sort of in the position where like if everybody's in a room, Dee's the one in the corner with their back against the wall seeing everything the most clearly at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. I think at this point, Devin's is closest to Dee. Angela is closest to Dee. Barrett even is probably closest to Dee.

[00:29:54] And so she's in a pretty powerful position in this group for sure, I think. Yeah. She is. She is. Aubrey, you just had a very audible sigh when Barrett came up. What was it about Barrett that caused that reaction? I, okay, well, the showmances, flirtmances on this season. Woo! They went quick. Like day two. I'm like, what? Just like marriage proposals.

[00:30:24] Barrett's interesting because he was really like on my radar off the jump. And now I'm like, Barrett, what's going on? Like, I don't know. I don't, he's not popping for me right now. Probably a good thing he can skate through a little, but I think he's going to make people a little bit wary that they don't, that he's kind of like tied himself to Dee. And I don't want Dee to, I mean, I also like, I have a interest in Dee. I'm like, I was really nervous. Dee, get away, get away.

[00:30:53] Distance yourself. So what do you think, Taryn? I agree. I mean, I feel like, and I think there's still plenty of time for him to sort of like get back on track. But I do worry for the world where he's just like, hey, I'm kind of just chilling. I'm safe. I can just keep letting this ride out. But the problem is that like, the more he lets things ride out, the more influence Dee has with the rest of Red Corner.

[00:31:21] The more influence Drew has with Kamu and the more, you know, Angela and Devins are bonding with Dee. And like all of these pieces are sort of like figuring themselves out outside of Barrett's circle. And if he wakes up, you know, a month from now and is like, all right, I'm ready to play, he's probably going to find himself without any pieces. Yeah, it feels that way.

[00:31:43] And on top of that, given how Dee's moving right now, I could even see a world where if Barrett and Dee were on the block together, people vote out Barrett. Because they're like, oh, we get Barrett out of the way so we can work with Dee because he's in the way of that. Because he doesn't have the connections for anybody to want to be like, well, we feel better about Barrett than we do about Dee. Even though she's obviously more threatening. So it's a concern for Barrett.

[00:32:08] But again, I think it's early days to be like that long-term concerned, but it's a concern I would have for sure. A hundred percent. I see. Yep. Well said. You have a way of saying things just so perfectly, Taryn. I'm like, how do you boil them down? That's why you do what you do. Listen, like Rome, I boil down the list. Yeah. Aubrey, are there any other people in this cast that remind you of anybody that you've come across in your many circumstances? Survivor adventures?

[00:32:38] That remind me of anybody. Oh, Angela, I'm always like a little Debbie coach vibes, just a little bit. Anybody that reminds me of anybody? Yeah, Mallory for me is just like the whole newbie cast of 38. There's that. Who else? Drew. Drew is so interesting. He's got that Cory in America thing going on from Big Brother, but also he's, I'm not quite sure. Is he like Spencer? Raymond?

[00:33:08] Perhaps? Well, what do you see that's like that? It's like that eagerness to play and connect with people, and it's very cerebral, and it's just like doing a lot. He's doing a lot. Sometimes I'm like, you're good. You're a good player. Just like, you know, chill for a second. Who else? Oh, I mean, Kamu's really interesting to me. I kept trying to think who Kamu was like.

[00:33:32] Kamu has that kind of stability that was kind of the honor and integrity alliance in 50, where it's like they're the stable, like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. Like the solid liquid gas. They're the solid. So I kind of feel that way about him. Chuck is an interesting player to me. I'm like, I think Chuck's in a good spot for a bit until he's not.

[00:33:56] I wouldn't say I have many, like, super one-to-one comparisons, but I have elements of people, vibes of people. Yeah. I feel like Kamu is like, if you took Jonathan and you, like, mixed a little bit of, like, softened him up a little bit with, like, some Joe, and then, you know. There's something else in there. I feel like you're starting to get the right chemistry to make Kamu.

[00:34:26] Yes. There's a little bit of a Jonathan in Kamu. I think Kamu's a little more, like, puts his emotions in a box kind of situation. Yeah, like Jonathan had those, like, moments, but Kamu hasn't yet, at least. Yes. And so he is definitely a lot more, but, like, he still has that sort of, like, I'm a big athlete who is going to talk strategy with you. Yes. That kind of thing. Totally. It's a really interesting cast, I'll say that. Yeah. All right.

[00:34:55] So we've talked a lot about how Rick's game translates to Big Brother and whether it makes sense. But as this interview was coming up, I started to think about you and the way that you play these shows. And I actually feel like that you would be a very good fit for the Big Brother game. What do you think of that? If I didn't go crazy on the first three days, perhaps. But I think you're a slow burn, right? I feel like- Yeah, I'm a slow burn.

[00:35:24] You make deep relationships with people and have that ability. And I think that that's, and I think that you would keep your eyes on the prize over the course of this long haul. That's the thing, is, like, I am definitely someone who, the more painful it is on the long haul, I tend to do better. Sometimes survivors are like, can this just be, like, Australian survivor length? Like, I get better the longer it goes.

[00:35:54] And I do make deep relationships. And I do know the restraint when to be quiet. Like, I can sit there like a house cat when I have to just, like, be quiet and let people fight. So in that way, I think I'd be good at it. Yeah, you know, someone who's- Go ahead. I was going to just add that I think that also when the house gets boring and the house gets slow, I think you could keep it fun.

[00:36:20] I think that you would come up with things to keep people engaged and have activities to do. Really? You think I'm fun? Thanks. I do think you're fun. And I think that in this house, where people are going crazy, I think that you would help keep them sane. I mean, I will say, I was the master of making dream catchers and crafts on Survivor. When I have fun, I was good at filling down time.

[00:36:43] So I think, yeah, that's the thing, is I think that in Survivor, I can create those one-on-one relationships where people feel like they can take a breath. And it's slightly not safe, but it's like the breath of like, oh, this is real and it's direct and it's home kind of thing. I think that would be very good on Big Brother. I would have a lot of fun with that kitchen. Like Taylor would drop in the glasses the other night was the funniest thing ever. I think I would have a lot of fun in the house. And yeah, you know what? Thanks, Rob. I think I could do it.

[00:37:11] I think I might lose my cookies, but I think I would have fun. I'd have some Angela moments talking to myself. Like we need to get, is Angela getting the credit she deserves for the self-talk? I know she's not like direct to the camera like Dee was in her HOH, but Angela has some great self-talk. That would be me. Mm-hmm. Very focused.

[00:37:29] Yeah, speaking to that point, I do think that like, I think about your 50 win and it feels very much like how like a solo Big Brother floater might play and do well on Big Brother. Like I think it's actually in some ways harder to pull off on Survivor, that kind of play than it is on Big Brother. So it's in many ways like, yeah, more suited to a game like Big Brother. So yeah, interesting stuff. But yeah, I would also be interested in hearing yourself talk.

[00:38:00] Oh, oh boy. There's a lot of it. There's a lot of it. It's so funny that we're talking about like the pace of the game. And I, funny that like, I do see how I would be suited for the long game and then Survivor 50 was the short game, but I don't know about in the middle. The whole, the pacing question, I could debate it for years. It's just so fascinating and it is different, but people do do too much when there's time, especially Survivor players. If you get, you know what's funny? We're talking about pace.

[00:38:26] I would say out there on Survivor 50, remember when we'd have an off day and the plan would flip? Like now they have seven. It's, it's, it's wild. You know, we didn't get to talk about this when we talked about your Survivor 50 experience, but you're one of the few people that played in the 39 day era, but then played in the 26 day game. How does the pacing compare? Oh, I mean, it's, it's super different. You know, 24 day of 24 person, 26 days. Yeah.

[00:38:56] Yeah. I mean, it was totally different pace. Like you didn't have time to always think or mull as long. And sometimes for me, for someone who can overthink, it was almost better to just like act, deal with the cards you were dealt that day and then deal with the repercussions. Like I didn't get in my head. I get paranoid on the off days at times. Um, so it's very different. It's so different. So that's why I can't imagine what Dee and Devens are going through in there.

[00:39:23] It's like, oh my gosh, I want to do it. But again, I should go to sleep, but not enough stuff's happened. So I'm going to cause mass chaos by not letting someone in the door. I feel like, I feel like this is probably something that a lot of people have experienced in their life where like you have what you feel like is a really good, intimate, good, great conversation with somebody that was like high stakes. And you feel great about it that day. And then you wake up the next morning, you start thinking about it. You're like, wait a minute. Did I actually screw up that conversation?

[00:39:53] Wait, hold on. Is that actually way worse than I thought? And it feels like, yeah, on Survivor, it's like you go and you vote that night and it's over and it's done with. On Big Brother, you have that every single day. That moment of doubt, that moment of like, wait, am I doing the right thing actually? And yeah, that's such a huge difference in how you might play the approach to the games. And then to exacerbate that, not only are you having that conversation with more time, you're literally watching people have other conversations. You're like, is this undoing the conversation I just had?

[00:40:22] Like, I thought it was really interesting. A lot of what Dee is talking, I don't know if you've noticed this. She's like, oh, but I saw this. I saw them together. Like Dee is observing everything. Like that's how I played 50. Like that's how you get information when you don't have information. You look at where people physically move and how they move. And she's observing that. So I can imagine it's a bit of a mind screw. Yeah. And Big Brother, it's like the radar gets spammed with a bunch of pointless conversations because there's so much time to fill.

[00:40:50] So as a survivor player who's like tuned your radar to survivor pacing, it's like there's all these things happening. Oh, this person's turning on me. This person's doing this. And I think that's exactly what happened with Sari. Yeah. Well, yeah, Tara and I were talking about this the other day of that it's so different in Big Brother where in Survivor that there's less socializing that's going on. There's less like, OK, these two people are just hanging out, having non-game talk, especially with how fast it's moving.

[00:41:18] You could see two people in the Big Brother house and they're alone. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're plotting. Whereas on Survivor, you see two people having a conversation. It's like, well, why are they talking? Totally. It's absolutely that. And I, yeah, it's. Oh, I thought Angela was spinning out the other day. And I think it's because she saw like she thought something and then somebody else was. I feel like I'd be very Angela.

[00:41:44] And I feel like I would go in wanting to play like Morgan Pope and would spin into Angela. Aubrey, are you feeling any sort of stakes in this where, you know, if Rick and Dee, they go on, they dominate, you feel good. It's like, listen, of course, Survivors are going to come in. They're going to crush in Big Brother. But if this position collapses and this goes bad, I was thinking about this.

[00:42:12] Like, I don't want to hear like, oh, Big Brother, the Survivors come to Big Brother. They think it's so easy. They and they and they sucked. I don't want to live in that world. Oh, hell no. I don't want to live in that world. Big Brother. And we'd hear it. We'd hear it. We'd hear it. I mean, I do have I do have respect for the Big Brother players that it is that long. And I will say online feels even more wild for them. It's so much. It's even more parasocial.

[00:42:42] And I think we're parasocial. So, like, I don't want to hear it, but I'm going to have grace for the Big Brother players. I want to hear it. Survivor is the best reality show of all time. But I do have I mean, I see how some of these I'm like, whoa, people think they really know you because they're hanging with you all the time. That's that's a weight to bear. And you don't have like I can't imagine watching Survivor like I can't imagine playing Survivor. And then I don't know. I just think it's different.

[00:43:09] It's this whole real time thing where there's a perception, this whole other audience that's deciding who you are in the moment. You have no control over it. Like they're not seeing what we would see, like the reaction to how we're playing. I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. It's a mind screw. I so, Rob, I'm saying Survivor is the best game ever. But I got empathy for these Big Brother players. Yeah, this, you know, the Survivor game is such an adventure.

[00:43:33] But I think the experience of watching Big Brother is so much more real and visceral than the experience of watching Survivor. Yeah, I agree. Yes. I feel like sometimes when I'm watching the feeds, it feels more like playing Survivor because you're seeing those moments where the action like that.

[00:43:52] That's when I think back of like moments of Survivor, sometimes I feel like the closest to it when I'm watching the live feeds where you're like, oh, that moment, that pause, that look, the way that person left like sooner than I thought they would. And then went over here instead of over there. Like that's Survivor. Like that's the magic of it. Yeah. This is the thing. The thing is happening right now. Like it's you get you get to experience that watching Big Brother. Yes. Yeah.

[00:44:22] And I mean, there's like the meta of all of these games. Right. And we really get like you can talk about the meta of the games, but like unless you really see what's happening in those like in between moments. There's you know, you don't have quite the full picture. You have most of it, but it's just on Big Brother. You can see those things like this is why I love Big Brothers. Like I always say in 50, like a lot of the stuff I did like wasn't great TV. It's because it was about the pauses, like I said, and the looks and all of those things.

[00:44:50] And on Big Brother on the live feeds, like you're seeing how the way you present yourself in a more nuanced way makes people feel. That's like we're getting this feedback about Drew on the feeds about like some people are really sketched by Drew. Like would you necessarily catch that just watching the show? I think you can see it more fully when you see like Drew is talking to this group. Then he moved over here. That's what made people feel weird. Like you can see with the feeds, you can see why people catch the vibes is what I'm trying to say.

[00:45:20] Yeah, that's I mean, that's, you know, that's why that's why I still cover Big Brother. That's why we're like we're in this, you know, it's like no other show is able to give you that feeling in the same way. Like you can go play the show. But I think Big Brother live feeds are the closest to actually being there without being there by a huge, huge margin. Yeah. Aubrey, let's say this goes incredibly well. Biggest rating season of all time. The powers that be.

[00:45:48] So, you know, we we got to strike again with this and we need more survivors. And they call you Aubrey. Big Brother 29. Are you in? That's a long time. It's so long. It's a long time. And I got a little kid. It's a long time, Rob. I feel it. And I'm not in it. I'm like, oh, my God. But oh, damn, would I be tempted? Shoot. I mean, I take the call.

[00:46:17] I wouldn't say no. Did Sari tell you about her time that she said do not play Big Brother ever? Sari didn't have to tell me. I could just see it on her face. It's like I like. I'm not trying to psychoanalyze Sari, but after she played that Big Brother season, I know Sari enough to know when the metaphorical Big Brother sunglasses are on or off.

[00:46:43] And I contend that watching her in Big Brother is a big reason why I was able to win 50. I saw how she moved in that game in a different way. Wow. I can. When I'm a Sari, I know when she's done with people's stuff and she just puts the sunglasses on. I think it helped me. I think it helped me. I think it helped me study her a little bit. Oh, Sari is the best player. I wish they would just pop her in right now. Wouldn't that be great? So like surprise, Sari's on Big Brother.

[00:47:12] That is such a great point. I thought a lot. I've thought a lot about like how watching Sari on the feeds really helped me understand the way she plays Survivor so much better. But it never occurred to me. Poorly should have occurred to me that people playing with her on future Survivor seasons might have watched her on the Big Brother live feeds and have a better idea of how she plays as well. And I was eight, nine months pregnant and then had a newborn.

[00:47:40] So my hours were weird and I was watching. I was watching that whole thing. Was it you, Taryn? Someone said this and I think I've said it a few times, but just like the nuances, someone made the observation that if you come up on Sari and she's having a conversation with a group of people and they've been talking about you and you walk up, she doesn't stop talking. She'll be like, hey, we were just talking about you. Like those details, those little like texture, the emotional texture of the room. She has complete command over it.

[00:48:09] But man, I would do anything to go back. I mean, I'm loving this season, but the days of Izzy, I love Izzy. Izzy might be like, Izzy's in my top three Big Brother players like all time. Izzy, Sari, Felicia and the whole Heysom thing. Oh my gosh. I'm afraid that we could have like a Heysom moment here with our friends, D and Rick. So we'll see. But I loved those. That group. Give me Izzy in the pig costume any day.

[00:48:40] Aubrey, anything else that's on your mind about Big Brother 28? Oh, I wish I could talk to Devens and D. What would you tell them? Guys are doing great. Give them a, if we could send a video to them, what would you say? I just want to give, I want to give Rick and D the biggest hug. They're, I just want to give them a hug. They're doing so great. And you know what? I just want to say to them, hell yeah, you said yes to the experience. You two are wild. Like the fact they're even doing it, win or lose. I don't care what anyone says.

[00:49:08] I think it's amazing that they're just going for it. Like I'm just proud of them. I don't care what anyone says. I'm with them. Ride or die. Survivor till the end. Till the wheels fall off. I hope they're having fun. I really do. I think they are. Yeah, I hope they're. And it was really fun to see Rick sing to Juju on her birthday, his daughter. So it's really nice. I know how much he loves his family and their wonderful family. And it's got to be tough.

[00:49:37] And I think it's great that they support him so much too. Yeah, it's been fun. Yeah. Even like Christian Hubicki. Wouldn't that be fun if we had a Christian loved ones visit? Something. Or like Tiff went in and visited D. Anyway, I want more crossover is what I think I'm saying. That's why they call it the crossovers. Yeah, I'm proud of them. They're killing it. Yeah. Okay. Should Survivor have more Big Brother people on now? No. No, of course not.

[00:50:06] You know, I love how I say that. I'm like, get off my show. It's so funny. I mean, that's the thing is when I have some Big Brother players that I've gotten to know and I like dearly love. I love to see them play Survivor. I want to see Izzy play Survivor. I want to see Andy Herron play Survivor. I've been talking a little bit to Morgan Pope and she's amazing. I think she'd be really good at Survivor. So let them on. She'd be intense. That's how these shows survive. Sorry. She'd be intense on Survivor.

[00:50:33] She would, but she's very, she's really good at like positioning and knowing people. I'd love to see her play. I think she'd be a formidable, like Savannah-like competitor with a different social game probably. Okay. Taryn, anything else for Aubrey today? Hi. Just so happy to see her. It's Aubrey famously one of my favorite Taryn show interviews back in the day. Oh, thank you. I remember that interview. I remember where I was sitting in West Hollywood. It was a great time.

[00:51:03] Yes. Oh, let Taryn sleep. Listen, he knows what he's doing and he doesn't need to sleep. Okay. Yeah. Right? Do you sleep? I get it in there. Okay. Just checking. Yeah. And he would rather it be tired and there be good feeds than it be boring and he'd be well rested. Can I ask how you felt on Friday night? How were you on Friday night?

[00:51:32] It was a lot. Listen, there's nine whole other months to sleep. You know what I mean? Fair enough. Yeah. Okay. Aubrey, anything you want people to check out, what you're doing? Just follow me on Aubrey Bracco on probably Instagram. But I've been on like X lately again and threads talking Big Brother. So yeah, check Big Brother. It's fun. What a treat for us. You've been live tweeting the season.

[00:52:03] I mean, it's so much fun when it's not your own foibles and things to talk about. I, you know, I keep saying I'm like way more excited when I'm in a different universe because I can talk about that universe and like apply the lessons. I'm happy. I love Survivor, but it's nice to like, let's talk about you. I don't want to talk about me anymore. Okay. All right. Well, great to catch up with you. And then Taryn, what else is coming up for you? We got the round table.

[00:52:30] I don't know exactly when this is dropping, but in my time at the round tables tonight. Live feed updates every morning and check out all the other shows I'm watching on my Patreon. Okay. And then we have another busy week of Big Brother coverage coming your way, including the slop coming up on Tuesday night. Plus Taryn and I are going to get into the patron mailbag.

[00:52:55] If you have questions, robinswebs.com slash BB mailbag as we answer your strategy questions about Big Brother 28. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Aubrey. Take care. Have a good one. Bye. Bye.