In today's installment of The CEO Playground, Chris and Aaron delve into the intense QVC Challenge, which has evolved into a cutthroat competition unlike any before. In a surprising twist, even friends are finding themselves compelled to sacrifice one another in pursuit of getting a step closer to the ultimate finale.
Music Creds:
Intro - KnowLife - SPOTIFY
Outro - QM - SPOTIFY
In today's installment of The CEO Playground, Chris and Aaron delve into the intense QVC Challenge, which has evolved into a cutthroat competition unlike any before. In a surprising twist, even friends are finding themselves compelled to sacrifice one another in pursuit of getting a step closer to the ultimate finale.
Music Creds:
Intro - KnowLife - SPOTIFY
Outro - QM - SPOTIFY
Chris, how are you doing today? I hate. QVC. What? I hate QVC. Little known fact. I hate it after this last episode. It has torn my life inside out. You know? You know, he was. That's not usually what I get from you to start this podcast. But let's make it a known fact. Chris hates QVC. And if you watched last night, I also hate QVC. It is wrecked my world. And actually, QVC is the reason I don't have $250,000 right now. And I will never buy anything from QVC for the rest of my life. Yeah, she took money from me. What could have been mine is not now. Aaron's drawn the line and QVC has become his arch nemesis. Never again. When Grandma turns on at home, when I'm back there for Christmas, PTSD, I'm taking the remote and throwing it through the TV. Mom, you don't need those fucking pants. This is crap. Well, welcome the week eight. This is QVC. Challenge. This is the QVC challenge. We're tasked with creating a 20 minute live bit, picking a multitude of products and having to explain exactly why people should buy these on TV. Listen, let's. Start from the very beginning. I know you're angry. I'm stressed out of my mind off of this job. You. I'm sorry. I'm just going to take this opportunity to apologize to you and apologize to Tony. I'm sorry. We were supposed to be the boys men. I know. I'm sorry. I guess I technically got you eliminated. You did fuck you. But this is like the Royal Rumble. All right? Every man for themselves. And I just tossed Tony and Aaron, both my friends and tag team partners throughout all the challenges. Because you fantasize, that does not mean you're the royal rumble Champion. No. But if this was the Royal Rumble, I just eliminated two of my buddies. Okay, that. That sucked. That sucked. But let's start from the beginning. That sucked. It sucked for you because you're gone. That sucked for me because two of my buddies, I essentially just got two of my buddies eliminated. Quite literally. The last man standing. Yeah. I am the last man standing. But let's. Let's start from the beginning here, right? We get to QVC, we get broken up into teams. It's boys versus girls, essentially. That's exactly what it is. There's no decision. Going into the last couple of weeks and seeing all the drama between Ashley, lan and Caroline. We're looking at ourselves because we've never had drama within each other. Right. And we're going we got this in the bag. And so I thought we had it in the bag. I think you and Tony also thought that this was going to be smooth sailing because we were just going to watch the girls burn in flames. And I think we might have been a little too confident. I think that might have been a little too cocky. And I don't even know if it was like cocky. It was just more or less the fact that last week after the Seattle Challenge, we came to the conclusion that if you weren't on that team, that team would have burned. And so they put that theory to the test and they put those three girls on the same team this week, and they did not burn. They worked rather cohesively together. And it's fucking disappointing to an extent. I was genuinely shocked at how well they pulled that off together. I shit man, someone burn some incest and incest. It's insane. I don't know. Somebody. Somebody burned some of that nice smelling stuff that comes on a stick. They pray to some deity and they came together and they pulled it off. And I don't know how they pulled it off because in the previous weeks they were at each other's throats. I got to applaud those three girls because I did not see the outcome that came from this. And overall, man, that was a hell of a challenge. I think when I look at what we were tasked with doing, we get there. Like you said, we're overly confident going into it. And I think we just realized that we would work well together. And I think that ended up being our downfall because where typically teams work well together, there was no internal conflict. We didn't really question each other. And I think when you question each other, that's where you come up with solutions and better resolutions to the task. So I think if we were to not be so comfortable with one another and really questioned each other's intentions and make sure we truly had it, I think we would have had a different outcome. I think that's that's a very good point, because I think looking back and watching the episode last night, who I know now, who why didn't anybody stop me putting all that crap in the blender? I eat some really disgusting things, especially in smoothies. I just drink them for the functionality or for the health benefits. I'm not thinking about the taste aspect of it, but somebody should have stopped me. Looking at that on TV last night. It's disgusting. Oh my God. And who just puts random fucking vegetables in a blender together and is like, Oh, this is going to be good. You That was more that was just really dumb because I'm going, yeah, this would be great. It would be a funny little thing. But the funny aspect of it and the shit that I would eat is not what the general public would eat. And it's not what the general public wants to see in a product that they're going to buy. It kind of I kind of recall episode four from that exact instance you would eat that smoothie just like when we serve Mr. Beast, a burnt grilled cheese. I would have attacked grilled cheese, but it's not everybody's cup of tea, and especially when it comes to TV and this being a TV show, you have to have like really good looking food because people don't get to try this food. They eat it with their eyes. It's true. And that's that's like the biggest selling point that I have learned personally, just through the snow constant and cool cats and snow clinking is people eat the shit with their eyes. The better looking it is, the better their overall experience. So if you're trying to sell something, it has to look good. I can't make shitty snow cones and then expect someone to want to buy my snow. Exactly. And yeah, I can't make shitty smart cups and expect people to, you know, buy smart cups based off of a shitty visual. And that's I think that was one of our downfalls in this this, this challenge was that we took it for granted and it was more like a, it was more of a boys hangout then than we did then. Then we took it as a serious challenge, right? Where any one of us could have gone home. And in this instance, two of you guys went home. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Into that a little bit later. Yeah, but. But no, going into this, you know, where we're the brothers were hanging out. We're like, you know, Gordon tells me at one point when he comes in with Alberti, who was the QVC specialist, big guy on QVC like the face. He knows this shit and he comes in to check up on us. We're going through our products, give him a demonstration, and we're just like, smile, laughing, chopping it up. And Gordon's like, You got to be serious. That was like a common thing. He told me. Aaron, you got to be serious. Quit laughing. And I really should have listened to him that time. Yeah, because. I put myself in a position, and I think Tony put himself in a position that neither one of us were ready for, you know? Well, you made it out of the challenge. But going into it, let's talk about our game plan. We sat there, we had all these items. Well, I, I made it out, but barely. Barely. Barely. It's probably the worst performance I've had thus far on the in this challenge. I would have to agree the. Worst performance we completely, I think, collectively took it for granted and took for granted how how much we enjoyed each other's company. I guess. And how much the girls are going to just eat at each other. And so we probably should have taken it a little bit more seriously, given the stakes. I mean, in the last podcast we were talking about, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel and here we are is they essentially it was a give me yeah, on this one. And we shit the bed. We shit the bed so bad. Worse than Luther in the ghost kitchen. Yeah. You know, like, yeah, that was a terrible outing. But we I feel like going into we had a good game plan with our products. We came up with the concept. You know, Tony has been wanting to be the face of many of these challenges and I feel like every time Tony's got pushed down and not been able to be the shining star. Yes. And for whatever reasons. But this time I was like, All right, Tony, you can be the face when in reality I think I would have been better on camera than Tony was. But I also felt like I could probably do better in the booth. And so, yeah, because I have experienced to an extent of like knowing camera angles and knowing how the. Directing and directing. You know, Yeah, at face value, Tony's a chef and I have a little bit of experience in the entertainment media world, so I was letting it roll. Oh, and keep it down over there, would you? Yeah. So we're trying to do a podcast over here, owns over there. If I can. I think he's watching QVC. I heard that shit all, but I said you're trying to incite his PTSD over here. No QVC there. But no, I think that you know where the rules were. It was probably the best bet for us. You're obviously the TV guy or like a face, as you've been throughout. And I just want to say it is such a burden. Every challenge, any time someone needs to be front and center, I get nominated. Right. And I think this time around, because QVC is such a different animal and all I know of QVC is like Billy Mays and ShamWow and like over the top, like. If you want. No, we'll throw this in. And that's how I behaved. And that's not what QVC is. And I think that hurt us, too. Yeah, I think almost in retrospect, I feel like you and Tony should have been the face and maybe my maybe taking a step back and being in the booth might have helped us. Yeah, I think I mean, the idea that we had was honestly good, and I felt confident going into it. Um, we had the idea that, you know, Tony's a professional chef and so we get him on there and Chris is the idiot. And so he's like, How does this work? I don't know. How to do it. And then Tony's like, This is how you do it, kid. And what actually happened was quite the opposite. It was Tony had no clue what he was doing there. And Chris looked. Like the professional in comparison. And so that. Saying that speaks volumes of the. Situation. I know like it was just it was mind blowing. And then me in the booth men like I thought that I would have a decent idea but you get back there and you're oh. That like, yeah, what's that like. So you're in this dark room in the back and of course you see a little bit of it, but it's, it's dark and almost despairing and misty and like, mysterious, and you're sitting in front of these monitors and there's probably 15 different camera angles and they're all rolling at once. And so when you go live, there's everything's rolling and you have to direct people where to look. So if I'm turning on the TV to show camera angle three, then that means you guys have to look at camera angle three. But I have to be thinking like seconds ahead of you guys. Yes. And going into it, we had a plan put to plan quickly fizzled out because Tony didn't have in his fucking earpiece. And so that made it didn't matter what I communicated or how well I did. Tony couldn't look at the camera because he didn't get the earpiece. And then Gordon's in my ear. You'll have Chris tell Tony to put his earpiece back in. It's like, how do you do that on a live bit. Like, I know, I know it's hard. And people people those 20 minutes that we're there are the longest and shortest 20 minutes of your life. At the same time, for. All of these challenges, we have hours to prepare and get things straight. This one we had, like, you know, a few hours to figure out our product. But when you're live, it is 20 minutes all intensive, no fucking breaks, no room to breathe like. You're just on your it's your goal. And, you know, I remember going into it. Gordon keeps telling me you're yelling, you're yelling, you're yelling. I'm like, Fuck, This is the way I speak, right? Like, I don't know how to act any other way. I'm not an actor. I'm a fucking scientist who just so happens to tell jokes every so often. And this is who I am. I don't know how to behave differently. And so I had to tone it back down like minutes before we're going live. Gordon's yelling at me for being too loud, and I just have to adjust myself. That shit went so fast and it was just go, go, go, go, go, go, go. When we were done, I was drenched in sweat. It's a marathon. Well, and I'll say for my experience, too, I've never personally, like, really ordered anything from QVC. I don't really order anything online. I am very old fashioned. I really just don't like to spend my money on anything but like snow cone shit in my own business and camera equipment. You ever ordered anything from QVC? Never once in my life. I can honestly say I have never ordered anything off of QVC. I can honestly say I've never watched QVC. So let me ask you, because I'm sure Tony's in the same boat. QVC, I imagine, is typically a female drawn audience because typically the females are your bigger consumers would. Be my assumption. They're the ones who I mean, it's like my mom, my grandma, they're ordering off a QVC. Yeah, I almost think this challenge played into the girls benefit because they probably have more experience on the QVC realm or at least watched it or something along those realm. And when you watch the example that we were given for QVC and how the guy presented what's his name? Alberti. Alberti okay. Alberti Presents. He's very poised, very controlled and I feel like because the girls speak in a more controlled manner and it comes off as being more poised, even though we know better. You're right. But it's more of a paced speak and presentation that resonates better for a QVC audience as opposed to this, like over-the-top loud. Well. You know, and it doesn't help us. The fucking Tony cuts his finger. His earpiece is earpiece. Keeps fucking falling out. And he cuts his finger in the middle of our thing, which causes all sorts of problems for us. Right? It is sucked, right? No, it sucked terribly. And I. But the girls, too, they had, you know, their own challenge there at the beginning when when we were watching the show, they had the idea that they were going to make one meal across all five products. And so they wanted to essentially carry one thing and demonstrate every single product with their. Food, which was smart because they had a theme that they played a. Now, Gordon Gordon said specifically that that was not a good idea and that they were focusing too much on the meal and not the products themselves. And so watching it, I was like, Damn, that's a good point. But the girls executed it very well. And I think that it carried out more, like you say, more poise. And again, going back to last week's episode, Lynne was killing it in that booth. She did ten times better than I did. Looking at it, she was ahead of the game a little bit. Of course, everybody had their earpiece in, so that helps. But like. I can't I can't knock that one at all as much as no matter how good I can do in the producer booth or how bad I do it doesn't fucking matter unless people can hear what I'm saying. Yeah. And I was listening to you and I'm trying to be entertaining and be that face. And at the same time I'm trying to cover for Tony and I'm trying to listen to you. And it was just like, Holy shit, it's sensory overload. It was the first time that I was like, Nope, I'm done. I'm walking off. I can't fucking take this. Shit right now. I'm leaving my boys high and. Dry right now. I'm fucking done. I can't do this right now. But given all the circumstances, I think, you know, it's your first time on QVC. But Gordon himself said it. If we were given another opportunity at it, I think we would outperform the girls. What do you think of that? I it's hard to say, but 100%. I know that if I went back in there, you know, I'm a quick learner. I recognize where I went wrong the entire time and knowing what I know after doing it, that was really my first time in a producer booth, first time during a live, you know, bit of that nature at all, trying to sell products. I 100% thing I would have done better. You know same speaks for the girls though they would have done better as well and so it's a matter of. Yeah and they definitely would have done better but I guess do we do substantially better than them to beat them a second time. Around? We are doing it with a whole different mindset and I'm going to say yes because I'm egotistical and I think that yes, I can be anybody. Because going into that challenge the first day I thought I was going to kick everybody's ass and that didn't happen. Yeah. So there's really never a time that I don't think I'm going to fucking win and I don't know how it'd be interesting. Girls like we were going into it and we were so confident because the girls are having all their issues and all the drama. I'm wondering if the girls in their minds thought, Oh shit, we got to get our shit together because the guys are cohesive and they get along. That's a very good point. I mean, I'm sure they were and you know, they I don't even know, man. They they surprised me like, so. They shocked. Shocked me because coming out of the challenge too, when we were finished with our bit, you know, the girls were like talking to each other. And I was like, wow, you guys are talking to each other Like all you guys have your eyelashes on. Nobody's missing. Their makeup looks good. Yeah, nobody's crying when we. You know, we're in separate teams and we don't get to talk to each other. And then when we get to see each other for the first time after we do our QVC time, and I noticed that Caroline's not crying. The makeup's all in place. They're all smiling. And I'm like, Shit, yeah, we lost this. Yeah. And I think that, you know, it's clear in that episode last night, as soon as I walked out of that producer booth, I was like, Man, I was not ready for that. That was much more difficult than I think all three of us thought it was going to be. Yeah. And like, I think we were prepared, but I just don't think that we exactly knew what we were doing. To be blunt, like, yeah. No, no, we. Just didn't know the flow of how things work. It was evident as we're transitioning. So you got we had the pool shot Tony instantly like cuts his finger. I don't know if it was on the pool shop or the knife. I know it was on the pool shop. Yeah. When he like. Yeah. So he cuts his finger and. He's bleeding trying to wrap it up while also you can't stop like you have to keep going. And you know what sucked about that? I didn't even notice that he was. He cut himself. I didn't notice the whole time. We're doing it. I have no idea because I'm so focused on just talking. And then we're getting the phone calls coming in and I'm just like, afterwards, Tony is like, Yeah, I cut my finger. I was like, I didn't even fucking notice it. And one thing that people don't realize is that Gordon's like, in front of us on a whiteboard writing. Yeah, writing stuff like, Oh, be louder. Look at the camera. That's a distraction. It's one thing when Gordon Ramsay curses that you verbally. It's another thing when Gordon Ramsay writes a curse at you. And Really? Yeah, I remember. I mean, I have the camera so I can see him in my monitor, and he's sitting there on the board like he's. Like that, you know? And you're like. Dude, I don't know what's more prominent your head or the fuck on that board. I got it. Yeah, That's like, Fuck. And it's like, I'm like, Oh, man. Hey, So we got a caller. Yeah. There's so many things happening. And that's I mean, it goes to say not only in the QVC bit, but in this whole TV show in general. What happens behind the scenes is the camera that the lens doesn't catch. There's so much going on literally like right behind the camera. So you guys are seeing us, but we're looking at the camera and then like a million other things. And it's like it's literally like being on stage. You said of. Time, you said it best. It's sensory overload. I mean, I've done stand up in large crowds, auditoriums, stadiums, nothing like that. QVC experience. And for me, I took it for granted, too. You know, in every and every challenge that there's a presentation, people want to put me front and center because of my background as a stand up comic being a stand up comic and being a QVC host are two separate animals. No, two separate animals. I feel like I had to recalibrate my brain and really bring it up a notch in terms of my adaptability. Because when I enter into a new challenge in life, I don't just take it for granted and say, Yeah, I can do that now. It's like I really have to understand what the task at hand is. If it's a presentation, who I'm talking to, what's the objective? Because the tactics that I use on a day to day basis may not work for this specific task. And so it's helped me, you know, right now markups is is in the capital raise, right. I can't the way I speak has to be very, very focused on what the topic is and who I'm talking to. Right. And so I will say that there was a the glass is half full for that challenge for me because it helped me adjust the way I speak and I present myself and I have to think of it in terms of. Your audience. The audience, and it becomes a little bit more relative. And so it's made me a stronger presenter. Mm hmm. I guess, Yeah. So no 100% I. But it happens because I get kicked in the balls. If I didn't get kicked in the balls, I still just sit on my merits and my abilities and not really adjusting myself. So I'm grateful that I got kicked in the balls. And Gordon pretty much just says you come off completely disingenuous. Why? Because I'm out there. I'm on the screen going. Oh, look at me, everybody. Oh, they did three easy payments. I make a fucking ass of myself, you know? Yeah, yeah. And I know. You didn't have to, like, agree with that so easily, but. Yeah. Yeah, you do. Yeah. Well, actually, I think it says a lot more than just the QVC, but you're really good at making your an asset yourself in a lot of different situations. Thanks. I appreciate. That's Aaron. Just getting back at me for getting him eliminated. You know, so like we had lots of I mean, it's prominent when we're when we're going through the challenge. You guys watched it at home. It was just so chaotic. The girls overall, you're watching it. Your emotions weren't as intense as we are. They feel like they had a little flustered at the beginning, but they cleaned it up very well by the end. US It was chaotic the whole time. When it came to transitions in our and our kitchen. They were not seamless. The blender was turned around the wrong way. We had a fucking electric skillet. On the stove. On the stove, and Gordon ripped me a new one about that and I was like, Gordon, it's not that big of a deal. The stove is not on. He's like, But if you're watching it, it looks like you got this cooking, like an electric stove cooking on top of a fire. He goes, It doesn't matter if it looks like it or not. He's like, You can't be that close. Like someone's going to buy that, set it up, turn it on, and then blow up their whole fucking house. And guess what? They're going to be calling QVC for Aaron Valentine because of that. And I'm like, Oh, like, I can't even argue at that point. And that's not your fault. At the end of the day, that's my fault. That's Tony's fault. But on the fly, like you don't think about it. No, you don't. You just put the bitch right in front of you and you tell him what it's about and you don't. Because we didn't use I don't think we used the actual skillet at all. So the whole time we didn't ever like, Oh, this is hot. Let's set this over here. It was just like, this was our table in front of us. That's right. Yeah. But let me ask you a question. Do you feel like you got let down by me and Tony? Not entirely. I was let down. In general, I'm not the type of person that's going to be like, Oh, it was Tony's fault that I got sent home. It was Chris's fault that I got sent home. When you look at the challenge, it's a team challenge. If we don't work cohesively together, someone has to go home. And I remember exactly after that and I go to the grilling. You have to throw somebody under the bus. This is how the grilling is. What's the name of the game? Because if you don't throw somebody under the bus, more likely you're going to go home. I learned that in my first grilling. And so I go in and I'm like, listen, if I was in somebody's home, obviously I wouldn't be myself because I went to fucking money. I was like, And out of the two other people on my team, Chris perform better than Tony. Tony didn't put his earpiece in. And so as much as I want to say, Tony, let me down. It's a team effort and you have to take that. I take that responsibility as a team. I could have performed better. You could have performed better. We all could have. And at the end of the day, it fell down on just who was the most negligent. I said, Tony, I came out of the grilling. I was like, Tony, I fucking threw you under the bus. Me and Tony are great friends, but I was the first person to tell them. Yeah, you fucked that up for me, Tony. I threw you under the bus. If you would have put in your fucking earpiece, you're such an idiot. Like, why would you? Why would you do a live bit without an earpiece that connects you to the producer? It's like driving with your eyes closed. Yeah. Like, who the fuck does that? Nobody. And what people don't realize is that Tony gets out of his grilling, and he's. He has the same conversation with you. Yeah. And he's like, Aaron, I fucking threw you under the bus. Yeah, that's what it is. And both of you guys look at me. You're like, Who do you throw into the air? Because you're the deciding factor? And I was like, Both of you. Guys. Yeah. So then we go to the grilling, you know, and I'm looking at myself. I know that we lost, and at the end of the day, I truly believe that the fault came down to Tony not having a 0%. And I think Tony was just chaotic. But but here you go. Gordon's like the person going home. Yeah, it's Tony. And I was like, Fuck, yeah. I mean, Chris going another week. How relieved. Were you? And then I was like, £1,000,000 of stress was lifted off my shoulder. I'm like one challenge. Like, one challenge. I'm going to the finale. My family's going to literally kiss my ass for the rest of my life, like how I'm changing my whole family history. Tell me about the emotional roller coaster that you went through in about 30 seconds right there. Yeah. So he says Tony's going home and, you know, it sucked because I was really close with Tony. And I love Tony to death. But then. Yeah, so do. I. And I was like. Like, let's go. I'm going to text Tony right now. We're talking and then 2 seconds later, Gordon goes, But wait. And it was like at that split second, the split second, he goes, But wait. I instantly knew that there was no way, in fact, that Chris was going home before me, no matter what happened. So I was like, See, Tony? I was like, Dude, there's no way Chris is going home. And then he goes, But there's another person, Aaron And then he says, Like, your energy didn't live up to what I'm used to. And I thought that was bullshit. Like I had the energy. I just didn't know what the fuck I was doing. And so I go home, he kicks me off and I was like, you know, out of all the ways that I could have went home, out of, you know, I looked at coming in this challenge, not expecting much out of it. I was expecting to go home early. You blew everybody's expectations out of the water. I mean, I made it further than a guy who literally has a fucking app. I made it further than all these people who are, you know, five, ten, 15 years older than me. And I was like, there's nothing really to be mad about. I blew my own expectations out of the water with this and the fact that I'm going home on a double elimination. I was the second person eliminated. So if you want to get technical, I may top five. You're top five guys. I like Tony. I couldn't even drink the wine to celebrate with everybody at the winery. Yeah, I you know, I felt really good. I felt super accomplished. Yeah, it sucks you don't get the money. You got to go back home. The fucking pissed Lord Missouri. But hey, but. It was the coolest experience I ever had in my life. And I was grateful that I was going home with Tony. That's cool. I mean, for me it was a shitty situation because I'm like, Fuck, I just got both of my buddies kicked off. I know. But you know, I survive for another week. Now it's me versus lan. Caroline and Ashley, and I'm going, Shit, I'm not surviving this because they're going to eat me up alive. That's what I was thinking. I'm like, Shit, I'm done. I'm going to get caught up in some drama. Caroline's going to chew me up, Ashley is going to shoot me up, Landes going to chew me up. For all I know they could all now that they're on good terms and they got to win under their belt, cohesive bleep. They're going to chew me up and spit me out. I'm all by myself. Yeah, that's how I see this. And so, yeah, I'm glad that I'm going into another into another challenge and I survive. But at the same, no, I'm kind of pissed off that I got you guys kicked off, you know, people might say like, Hey, you know, Chris is a shitty person or, you know, him and Megan deserve the same funeral plot, you know, burial place. But shit, you know, that kind of sucked. And it's sad to see Tony go home. It's sad to see you go home. And I got to go survive another week against Caroline Land and Ashley. You know, I think out of all of that that came out of it, though, I left there knowing that I had met a shit ton of awesome people that I could, you know, call upon for anything related out of everybody there. Everybody was, you know, great to me. And I felt like I had earned a lot of new friends with respectable businesses. And I felt like I leveled up my own game being there and so getting kicked off, man, me and Tony went back to the hotel. We had a grand little evening. Him and I were just the brothers kicking it. It's like QVC never went home. I was just hanging out with Tony all over again, like it was cool. And so, you know, I remember I texted you like, Chris, I swear to God, if you don't fucking win, I'm going to be pissed. And. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. I was like, I. I'm rooting for you. I want you to win so bad. Get those girls out of there. Get Caroline off the fucking show. Like, do your thing. Yeah. Yeah. So there was, like, all this added stress. Now, now, you know, we're going into challenge nine and fuck, I'm the one guy left and. Yeah, How do you like how you obviously you're, you're going in profile so don't you. And you're like I don't have my brothers to like. Yeah I don't know to an extent. Yeah. And people forget like off camera we're always hanging out with each other, right? So now I got nobody. Really waiting on challenges. You have your groups of people that you like talk to. I didn't go talk to Caroline as often as I was like talking to Chris and Tony. And so having those people there to to like sort of talk about the challenge or like, prep yourself up, it's like a relief to have that conversation there. Yeah. And I don't know, maybe it's a good thing that you guys aren't there, so it's less of a distraction. You can be more focused on on, you know, the lights at the end of the tunnel here. Yeah, we're getting here. But I'm legitimately afraid of getting eliminated now because that 250 is in my grasp, literally. And now I got Caroline, lan and Ashley all standing in my way. And you're going to Vegas. And we're going to Vegas. And I hate Vegas. I'm sad. And I have no idea what's coming up. Right. And I'm just I'm stressed as can be. And, you know, next episode, it's going to be tough. One thing I want to point out, and I watched the episode not to call you out, but you do tear up a little bit. You're going to call you up that I'm going to call you. Well, you screwed up a little bit. I did. You know, the the lady who asked you questions in those interviews, she was tear jerking me. What is your family? Think about this. How's your little sister going to view this? You're getting sent home. How do you think this makes them feel? And to be there in the first place was the coolest thing I ever did. You know, all they ever talked about. And then being there, you're away from your family and everything, You know, for two months. You're in your own world. And then, you know, to finally have to go back home to it. Yeah, they are super emotional, but not in like, I'm sad, pity me emotion. It was like. Um. I don't know. I felt good. It was like tears of happy joy. Do you feel like you made your family proud, or do you feel like by getting eliminated, you, you, you let them down? No, I definitely didn't let them down. Just making it there like was significant to them. Nobody in my family has ever got to do anything like this. I'm doing stuff way different than any of my family ever knows. Like my father, he hasn't done a lot. My mother, she has like her cleaning business. And so for me at this young to get to go stand next to Gordon Ramsay and be recognized as like one of those innovative food entrepreneurs do, this is like some of the coolest shit. They'll get to talk about this for the rest of their life. This will be a highlight in their own life, and they didn't even get to live it. And so for me to be able to do that at only 20, I was like, Shit, I set the bar way too fucking high for myself. This. No, I got it like no other. That somehow was. The next thing. Yeah. What's the next thing for Aaron Valentine? That's what we got to be focused on. And you know, a year later I'm here this podcast and so things come full circle and I'm not mad about how it worked out for me personally, so that's cool. Can't do. That. No, you I think you should be very proud of yourself. And I just wanted to bust your balls on the tears that you let loose on the show. Yeah, I do have emotions. Yeah. There you go. Uh, I quit taking my depression medicine. Now, but in the shuffle. We'll catch you guys in Vegas. We'll see you later. Aaron's not going to catch you guys in Vegas. I'll catch you guys in Vegas. Jack will do. Something about it, but, yeah, uh, catch the next episode. Holla.