Steven Hayes Admission Interview Part 1

*music* *music* Everybody's gonna be looking at me Sneaky Sneaky *laughs* *music* Hey, welcome back to the Brink Reality Podcast I'm your host Ryan Brink, listening to the chat And today I am chatting to the winner of Survive 49 and the most recent Boots of Survive of 50, Savannah And it's sad because I sat up with Jennerly one of my favorites in 49 and probably one of my favorites, Jennerly of the new era of Survivor So I feel a bit bad for her It's a really hard spot coming in in 49 into 50 as the winner There's a lot of stuff that happens in all star seasons with pre-gaming and alliances and stuff And I don't say that as a negative It's just reality in life And the tribe that she found herself on You hear some thoughts about that as I talk to her south throughout I do try and go through the lens a bit of more authentic lens of this podcast to really talk about her experience holistically, not just game moves and I'm gonna try and do that throughout 50 I really want to know the story of the players and there's lots of amazing podcasts out there and articles written about like specific gameplay And I will talk on those but I also want to talk about the human experience of that So thank you for joining me on that little journey as we go through and I really do hope you enjoy this chat with Surv Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun From down and out to down under on the brink of reality podcast Straight ahead I say, hey, going I'm good. I'm exhausted and tired but all things considered I don't think I can be better It's, look, it's one of those things I was thinking about it last night watching your episode I'm like, this poor girl has gone back to back with Survivor It has just probably been all consuming in your world for the last like 12 months How are you processing the well-win that has been Survivor for you? Oh my gosh, you know it's so crazy I my boot episode was last night you would think I would wake up so sad and suppressed but I woke up and I just felt so happy I felt like it's the first day of summer vacation and don't get me wrong I've loved being part of the Survivor community I've loved playing I've loved watching it back with all the fans but I feel like now I'm in a place where oh my gosh, I can finally celebrate everything that this journey has been No more anxiety before the episodes are about to air I can just kind of relish and yeah, I won a season and I got to come back for a second and I can also enjoy the rest of 50 from like a fans point of view Well that's the thing right it's like it's the actual capacity to celebrate your victory because there wasn't like a lot of time to have that victory lap for you at all like I remember talking to you like pretty much straight away and then you're back on another season and for you in real time like how long was the turnaround between playing 49 into 50? It was like nine days which is crazy and during those nine days like you would think like I'd be so excited about the win and going back for 50 but there was and there was excitement but there was also a lot of anxiety and maybe a little bit of fear during that time too playing Survivor once is hard playing twice especially back to back is really really hard and it was tough, yeah It's brutal I'm so grateful that you actually decided to go back and play because it is very easy especially winning the game to say no in that juncture in that period I actually believe this is my own personal opinion that you actually have the hardest place of any of the 24 out there because one, you were unseen so people had actually seen you play they didn't know who you were necessarily and two you were the winner of that previous season so you have like these two not negatives they're amazing things that happen but these two like red flags it gets you a name like hey we don't know who this person is and she's won and she's back like how do you try to navigate that and I did see Sophie so if come out and talk about a little bit about you know there was some strategies potentially happening which was thrown out the door yeah I mean initially we had planned to tell people that I got 5th place in my initial season me and Rizzo were both on the same page and as we were going out to LA to fly to Fiji we got word from so that someone from season 47 knew our entire boot order they knew that I won and not only did they know but a lot of other people knew so that plan was blown up I knew I had to own it and I did and I thought to myself you know maybe this will be almost a little bit freeing right I'll tell these people exactly who I am I'll tell them I played a loyal game I'll tell them you know I went to the very end with my best friend maybe that could be you we could go to the end together kind of thing but unfortunately I think the big question mark over not seeing my actual game itself was just too scary I get it survivors game of uncertainty you want to try to eliminate as much uncertainty as possible in the game but you know at the same time I did try I did make my plea yeah no I know you did I look I look I am I'm very open I'm a very big fan of yourself I think you're an excellent survivor player and I hope that at some point in the future you get to come back and do this again with space and time I do also feel like your initial tribe was really challenging for you to necessarily navigate like to have like a looking at the dynamic now and like to have arguably maybe the three biggest survivor node archetypes all on one tribe and I love those players like the three of them together is kind of like some survivor yeah this match and then we got Seri and Aussie obviously we played together or the past before Joe who is like owner of the group himself like there isn't not naturally like an easy fit for you like I'm not saying you're not someone who's great socially you are but it's really like it's not necessarily like a natural easy fit into that tribe exactly and you know I would say if there was someone who I really felt a connection with at the beginning it was Jenna Lewis yeah unfortunately her name was the one that was out there so early on just because she was going so hard for Seri I don't think the rest of my tribe wanted Seri to go home at all and even though I was feeling so tight with Jenna I was worried that if I stuck my neck out then I would end up being the boot because I felt like I was really happy that I was going to be in the boot and I was really happy that I was going to be putting everything together and if I'm going to have last words, I'm so glad that I had that moment to kind of just share not only what what 50 meant to me but also kind of tie it back to 49. Yeah, personally, I love your exit in terms of just the emotion you shared and I like it comes for a circle he talked about yeah, we talked about a little bit as well in our last chat about your history on the show like coming to the show feeling, you know, ostracized by other people in the past through work and professionalism and then coming here and being just so authentic and reducing the wall and I do really it's one of those big things we talk about like what we grow from experience and it's so cool to see that you've grown from that experience of being able to let people in and it's not a negative going out in this position or you are it's not a negative it's just a highlight of like the person that you're so it should be a real positive. I saw your partner in the background and sneaking away which is great. You're talking a little about that connection as well because obviously you go play, you win, you get to reconnect for a period of time and then go back and you come back and it's like the survival well-winded watching the show for a long period of time. How big is your partner and your family for that support network through two concurrent seasons? Dude, they're everything. They're everything to me. I could not have done this by myself. I really could not. And I mean, even not just playing the game and afterwards, but even beforehand when I applied to be on the show and having their encouragement and there would be days where I would have maybe an interview with production and I'd be like, oh my god, I didn't get it. I screwed that up. These people are the ones who were like the shoulder for me to lean on and cry on. When I felt like I wasn't going to get it and then to be so supportive when I got back and even when I had to go right back, you know, it was really hard. I'm not going to lie that period between 49 and 50 because, you know, while I have dreams and I want to go chase those adventures in that dream, my partner also has needs too. Right. So how do you kind of adjust and accommodate two people who are kind of wanting different things that kind of conflict with each other at the moment? You know what I mean? But overall, it's been such an amazing learning experience for myself. I think it's been a good learning experience for my partner too in kind of understanding what we need as individuals and what we need from one another. And in a really like crazy way, I think it's made us a little bit closer as a couple, a lot faster, I think, than we would be about two years into our relationship. Yeah, no, I really value and appreciate like the authenticity of that response as well. And I completely agree. I'm not survivor, obviously, but yeah, in relationships that I've had where you, you know, you have these big things that are really important to as a person and you have to prioritize yourself a little bit, which is, you know, it is a little bit selfish in ourselves to do these things. But it's about the shared respect and mutual understanding and the relationship that I've had the shared respect and mutual understanding between each other to grow. And I do raise that because I look behind you and see the flowers, and I see the celebration of what you probably had for the last 24 hours. And I put that juxtaposition on the online commentary and I see you talk about it and I love your social media. I love that you call things out. You talk about it. But can you talk a little bit about like the social stepping into that survivor world and like being exposed to the world and some of the stuff that comes your way because I think it's really important to highlight that that you are a person. You are a person who has a family and connections and you go and do this, you've done this thing twice back to back, which is amazing. But it doesn't shift that you are a person with like needs and family and connection and I have seen some of the online commentary and it has been like crazy. Can you, are you willing to elaborate a little bit on that stuff? Absolutely. I mean, it really has been insane. And I say this as someone who was a survivor fan, who was on social media before I was a player. I was the person who was on Reddit, you know, scrolling through the comments, you know, reading everything. And so now to be in the limelight and be that person who's being talked about and not only that, but being talked about negatively, so often. And don't get me wrong. There's been a lot of positive too. But the negativity is very strong at times. It's been wild to digest. And I think it's also been really interesting because I don't know. It's kind of made me think a little bit more about how we view different types of people in our society. You know, I've had people ask me before, like, oh, like, if you were a man and doing or saying some of these things, would it be as bothersome? Yeah. Would people tell a man who's acting the same way I am? Would they tell him to humble himself or to stop being so cocky? Or that he needs to basically make himself smaller? I don't think so. And so it's been a really good eye-opening experience for me. And I think overall, you know, I, in a weird way, I'm kind of grateful for it because I feel like it has made me way more empathetic towards other people. And, you know, it's unfortunate. I think that people have so much hate in their hearts to where they have to make these judgments about people who open themselves up and make themselves vulnerable. And who are shown, I mean, it's impossible to show us in a 360 degree way when we're part of a program that features 23 other people, right? That's so freaking hard to show someone's full personality. But overall, I just hope that, you know, people, especially women, feel more empowered to do things like play, games like this, in a bold way, that they can be assertive, and that they don't have to be afraid of being told that they need to make themselves feel smaller. It is actually International Women's Day on Sunday as well. So I think it's a really timely commentary on it as well. And I, I completely agree with you. I think that so many women are made to make themselves, and you said it, be smaller, be less, don't be the person that's, you know, dominating the conversation, being the powerful person in the room. And you, I think you demonstrated through 49, especially, like that, that is strength, that is not weakness. So from my standpoint, I just want to say, like, that is not clearly a reflection of most people's opinions. But it is really sad that there is a pocket of the online community that feels like they have to be this way towards people. And I saw you post the other day about, like, appearance as well, which men do not get commented on their appearance ever on these shows. And women constantly are, the fact that they think you've had plastic surgery just talks about how great you do. So that's a positive in the sense. But I've heard everything in terms of my body, which is absolutely wild from, you know, those kinds of things like ocean must have plastic surgery to, oh my gosh, her boobs are too saggy, like literally everything. And I'm like, I'm on a freaking reality show to win some money. Like, I did not come out here to the America's next top model. It's been crazy. No, completely, completely agree. I love to wrap these charts by talking about the concert of Gratitude. I remember I spoke to you last time about this as well. But for you, like, now, a winner of Survivor, which is something that people can never take away, which is such a huge thing. Like, I feel like you need to plalk with something to, like, commemorate like you're the winner of the Survivor 49. But to be a winner of Survivor to have gone through, to be on 50, the most like one of the most iconic cast in the history of the show that can't be taken away. What are you grateful for from the Survivor experience? You've just been through the past 12 months. Dude, honestly, just the opportunity to live this dream through. Like, I grew up watching this show. I grew up wanting this. The show's 25 years old. I've grown up wanting this for 25 years, you know what I mean? And I'm just so grateful that they wanted me on and that they saw something in me, not only from my first season, but brought me back for this second season to play with some of the people who shaped the way that I wanted to play this game and people who I rooted for. Every single person on my starting tribe, by the way, I had rooted for, at some point in my life, because I watched all of their seasons before playing. And so to be some part of something that's greater than myself, it's just been so incredible. Yeah, I do. I did. Feel like the, it was a little bit ironic that in your tribe specifically, we had the first person out, Jenner, from the very first season of Survivor, who was one of the, you know, powerhouses, powerhouse women, especially who created this franchise to you, the last winner of Survivor, a female winner of Survivor at 49. This, I kind of love that symmetry in a way. And it's just a huge thing. And congrats on getting to play. Congrats on being out there. Personal favor mind serve over 50 seasons now. So all the best. And yeah, I hope everything else does amazing things. And hopefully, I really do hope I know you work in media. Hopefully, survive the open stores for you to get some things professionally as well. And best of luck. Thank you. That means the world to me seriously. Thank you so, so much. I really appreciate it. And the tribe is spoken.