Parade speaks with Justin Pioppi, the third person voted out of 'Survivor 48'.
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00:00I mean, I'd be remiss not to start with where things finish, right, the the the cannoli that
00:05came out at the end of this course for verbally speaking, because, look, from our perspective,
00:10there's this historic unprecedented vote. It comes down to Cedric single handedly picking
00:15between you and say, and we get this very impassioned plea from say, from you, we get like,
00:22make the decision for what's best for your game. You're welcome at Luigi's anytime. I think a lot
00:26of fans perceive that as I wouldn't say giving up, but certainly compared to say, you kind of
00:31backing down. Talk to me about your perspective behind that. Was that your perception as well?
00:39I think the edit showed it that way, Mike. But I mean, as you know, these travels go on for
00:44for hours. And I guess like we broke the record in terms of how long we were there.
00:48And you know, you're in for a long one when you get a commercial break halfway through.
00:52So there was a lot said, especially on my part, that was not shown, unfortunately. And, you know,
01:00I know the editors have a very difficult job. You know, you're cramming a lot of information
01:03and trying to tell the story in a short amount of time. I think it was shown that
01:11whatever I told Cedric in the moment stuck initially because he was willing to keep me
01:16around. Even after finding out that I had lied to him, I did lose my vote. But I do think there
01:22were some some powerful conversations that ultimately didn't make the edit. And it was
01:28it was his decision in the end. And yeah, elaborate. But what were some of those powerful
01:34conversations or like some of the big points you were making in your favor that nearly kept you in
01:39the game? I think I told him that, listen, he and I were day one. And I really wish that our
01:45relationship was shown more throughout the show, because he was the first person I talked to. He
01:51came up to me. I actually helped him off the boat. And I think that's what kind of spawned this
01:55friendship, this, you know, I say the bromance and we were growing up together, but it was just
02:00such an unlikely duo. You have the long haired pizza guy from the north and you have, you know,
02:05the colorectal surgeon from the south. And it's like, you know, these two people would probably
02:10never work together. They probably never even interact unless they were in this situation.
02:14But he and I think a lot alike. I think we both don't like variables. I think we both
02:19don't like to see change. I wouldn't say we're risk averse, but I would say we take calculated
02:25risks. And part of that was doing the math in my head. This was like a two or three percent chance
02:32that all of these things could have gone wrong. And in my head, I'm like, I have such a good rapport
02:37with Cedric. He has told me countless times he will vote with me regardless of what happens.
02:42He will always be by my side. He will never write my name down and he'll always stick with me. And
02:48I'm like, this is everything I want an alliance member. I know that I can beat him in the
02:52challenges when it comes to that point. I know that if we ever get to a jury situation, our
02:57final tribal, I should say, no one's going to give a doctor a million dollars over, you know,
03:00the frigging pizzeria manager. So, granted, I'm thinking I'm thinking very long term, but I'm
03:05also thinking of somebody who I can talk strategy with, who's very rational, who's doesn't freak
03:12out. The only thing with Cedric is he does not like when plans change. He's kind of steadfast
03:18and headstrong in that sense. And that wasn't something that I wanted to risk, just that layer
03:23of trust. And I'm like, listen, if Mary goes home, she goes home. It's three of us, you know,
03:29hopefully we can stick together. I think we had a very, very strong bond. And I'm glad that came
03:33out in his confessionals last night. But if things go wrong here, I still think that we can get say
03:40out. And even though I didn't have a vote, I still controlled the first three rounds of voting.
03:45I knew where every vote went the entire time I was there, Mike, except for a Says Rogue vote on Kevin
03:51in the second tribal council. But other than that, I knew where everybody's vote was going.
03:55I knew who had a vote. I know who didn't have a vote. And I was comfortable in that situation.
03:59I wanted to set myself up with, I knew that this was going to sink, this ship, the Vula ship.
04:05It wasn't like a matter of if, it was just kind of when. And I'm like, I can either go down with
04:11the ship, or I can grab as much as I can and grab Cedric, my partner in crime here, go onto a life
04:19boat and get the hell off this island. And that was my idea. If the two of us stick together,
04:24it doesn't matter if we have Mary or Say, we can kind of still navigate this as a three.
04:31It didn't matter either way, as long as the two of us stuck together.
04:34And I think he saw that. And I think he committed to that.
04:38Yeah. So I mean, maybe illuminating a bit on that, what would you say is the biggest thing
04:42that you wished we got to see from this tribal council? Because like you said,
04:47longest tribal council, it sounds like, you know, in Survivor history, round after round after round.
04:52Talk to me through your perspective. Were there some moments that didn't make the edit that you
04:56wish we got to see that was even more of a perspective into the madness?
05:00Definitely. And I just think it was those bonds that Cedric and I had. And I don't think anyone
05:04else really saw it. I think Kevin mentioned it when he had his conversation with you about how
05:08close the two of us were. And I really think that's what kind of saved me, even though I
05:14withheld information from my number one. Granted, it was, like I said, a calculated risk. I know
05:19that in the new era, the odds aren't great. If you tell somebody you lose your vote, you know,
05:24you have no agency, you're kind of a sitting duck, you're an easy vote. I think Say kind of
05:28caught on to that. But I was like, let me keep this good rapport with Cedric, who is my number
05:33one. Let's let's figure this out together. And I really think those social bonds kept me through
05:38those initial rounds of voting. Yeah, well, you mentioned, Kevin, I'd be inclined to talk about
05:42to your point, perhaps, you know, substantiating the your your powerful status, the fact that
05:48from our perspective, it seemed like you were able to turn the vote on to Kevin, you know,
05:53you were trying to get make this 211 happen that ended up turning into a 3-1 due to say,
05:57talk to me about that choice, because this seemed like open and shut case, Mary doesn't
06:03have a vote, we'll just all pile on her. But you were becoming wary of what Kevin was trying to do.
06:10That was what I told Cedric. And that was to kind of strengthen our social bond. But
06:15Kevin and I would get water every morning after we woke up, and we would get water every night
06:20before we went to bed. And that was our time to just kind of reconfirm what we already said,
06:25but also catch up and fill each other in on anything else that happened. And when we got
06:29back from the second challenge, the water challenge last week, I was like, dude, like,
06:33let's go fill our water bottles. You know, that's like survivor talk, like, let's let's figure out
06:36what we're going to do before we go to vote. And he was just in so much physical pain, I give him
06:42so much credit for staying in the game, not only competing, but just being there present. It's
06:48remarkable. And I knew that he would never quit under any circumstance. But there may come a point
06:55where there's medical intervention, and he's pulled from the game. So in my head, I'm like,
06:59all right, so if we vote Mary tonight, and Kevin goes home after the vote or tomorrow,
07:05we're down to three people, Mike, in the first five or six days, it leaves me with Cedric and
07:11say in the middle granted, we're trying to flush her idol. But had she didn't play it, she's going
07:15to play at the next Tribal Council. Cedric and I would vote against each other. She picks which
07:19one she wants to go with. And our destiny is out of our control. If we do this, we leave Mary
07:24without an ally. We take that risk of Kevin being pulled from us away. And we also keep that
07:31conflict between say and Mary who will never work with each other. And it puts Cedric and I in the
07:36ultimate swing position, we can choose, hey, tell me what's best for you. I don't care which one we
07:41work with. I like both Mary, I like and I like say, but let's figure out what works best for
07:46both of us and keep that bond between the two of us that strategic relationship and kind of pivot
07:52like, which way do you want to go going forward? I'm finding the way I like both both Mary and say,
07:58you tell me which way you want to go and I'm good with it.
08:00Really, really interesting. So let's talk about say because again, it seemed like you said you
08:06can say we're locked in, you know, through this, this, you know, chaotic vote. And we saw a lot of
08:11Cedric and say connecting this last episode. What about the two of you? Because to your point, we
08:16got a lot of content in this first couple episodes of people approaching you being like, I don't know
08:20about say with this idol, and you're even acknowledging about the power that she had there.
08:24She's, she's definitely a dangerous player. And I respect her, her game, I respect her hustle. I mean,
08:31she's out there playing incredibly hard, which is great. I just don't know, Mike, especially in the
08:39new era with every twist and turn. And as we see, you know, there's a swap coming up soon. I don't
08:45know how that will translate long term. And that's what I was kind of clocking. And I'm saying
08:50I can pin myself to say, I know she'll get a vote at every tribal council, which she has so far.
08:56And then hopefully, if we get to a swap or a mergatory or a merge, and I'm not in well with
09:03either Loggie or Siva, we know that like that war is going to come. Both of them had like first
09:07round buys to the first week of Survivor, which is crazy to think of, but they're going to need
09:12they're going to need an army, they're going to need to recruit people and who better than like,
09:16you know, the Vula losers. But I'm saying if there comes to be a point where like, you know,
09:20they're wary of me, I'm like, listen, Se is kind of running things on our tribe.
09:25She's a big target. Do we want her as a presence on a jury? Let's work together and use her as the
09:32vote tonight and try and draw myself into another group that way. That was my plan. And I think
09:38we kind of saw it in a way with 47. It just didn't work out the way that I was hoping to. And,
09:45and, you know, it was a matter of the craziness that happened last night that we also
09:50Well, I need to talk about you coming back from this journey and the cover story, you know,
09:56making the neutral box looks like 40 chests of the red question marks and the white question marks.
10:02And obviously, to your point, what we were just talking about would say she is someone who is
10:05very wary of even if you're telling her the truth. So talk to me about what led to this
10:10cover story. And what was sort of your perception of how other people were reading the story that
10:14you were giving them? It was such a dumb thing, Mike, but I was saying in my head, like,
10:19I have limited time here on this boat before I get back to camp, I have to think of something
10:24quickly. And I'm like, what relates to dice? I'm like gambling skill, a game of chance.
10:29You know, what don't we have in this game luck, you know, we had no luck at all,
10:34literally. So I'm like, here's a chance to change your luck. Like, let's kind of flip it. Here's
10:38here's a chance to kind of give you some good fortune. That's what I was kind of thinking.
10:43And that's, you know, I'm not a huge gambler. But you know, we do like to
10:47play dice sometimes as a friend group, you know, so I'm thinking along those lines. I'm like,
10:52what keywords can I get from dice? What keywords can I get from gambling? What keywords can I get
10:55from playing that game of chance? So that's what I was about. That's what I was thinking.
11:01The journeys, I'm seeing a lot of talk online about, you know, it's not fair that we had to
11:08forcibly play this game. Because granted, Mike, if I had a chance, there was no way at all I was
11:13playing. There was there was no need, right? If I have a boat, I'm still in the game. And I knew
11:17that I needed my vote that night. That was the only tribal where I was in trouble. And I knew,
11:22I knew that for a fact, just because if something happened with Mary,
11:26I was going to be in kind of like that perception in that limelight, and there was a chance that I
11:31could go home. But the other thing is, I know it's a part of the game. And it's not this isn't
11:36survivor 41. It's over 48. This is definitely a part of the new era. It's been deeply ingrained
11:42in this new type of survivor game. It's just if you're a good enough player, you can kind of
11:47counteract that. And I thought I thought I made the right moves. The first three votes, like I
11:51said, went my way. It was just that verbal vote that kind of sealed my fate. But I don't have any
11:59problems with production or in terms of like, forcing you to do this. Like I said, I knew the
12:04rules of the game. I still chose to go out there and sign up and play said game.
12:09So then on that note, I mean, again, as you are sort of walking out, you know, you have this
12:14gratitude towards Jeff. And I would imagine, you know, if other people were in that situation,
12:19they might be, you know, belligerent, to say the least. And so talk to me about where that
12:23sort of attitude came from on your way out. Was it still shell shocked about everything that
12:27happened? Or to your point, was it more so acceptance of like, listen, survivor comes
12:31down to a lot of luck. And I have been facing very recently over the past day in that game,
12:36how much luck can factor into your faith. I just think it was it was a combination of
12:41factors. And it was the powerful conversations that we had, which didn't make the final cut.
12:46But also just kind of, you know, Jeff has been in our family for a long time. He's been with us
12:53for every previously Thursday night, and now Wednesday night. And now that this is out there,
12:59I was supposed to be out here last year playing this and something came up during casting with
13:04my health that I was able to figure out only because I went through the process. And Jeff
13:09spoke on this, so I feel like I can come out and say it. But he stuck by me, he stuck by me
13:15passing stuff by me production stuck by me, the network stuck by me. They gave me a chance when
13:20they really didn't have to, there's no shortage of applicants, there's no shortage of people who
13:24want to go out there and do this. I'm very lucky to have been in the realm of this for a couple
13:30of years. And I finally got that chance. And granted, I only applied once Mike, but I waited
13:36until I was ready. I wanted to make sure everything was good with the restaurant with my family,
13:41even like I called my neighbor before a week before I went out to do this.
13:45And I'm like, Oh, Mrs. Johnson, like, is everything okay? And she's like, Yeah,
13:47like, why? Why wouldn't it be? I'm like, just checking in. But I wanted that peace of mind,
13:52knowing that, like, I had no regrets. I had no one to think about or have to take care of or
13:58feel selfish that I took this chance for myself to better my friends, my family, my business.
14:04That was what I wanted to do. And Jeff is a big part of that. And I can't think him,
14:08I cannot thank him enough.
14:10Oh, that's so beautifully expressed. So wait, just just to clarify, so is that
14:13you were in casting before and in getting a health check, it was then discovered that
14:17there was something going on in the casting process.
14:20And it was a, my heart has an enlarged leaflet. So like, if you look at like a knuckle,
14:26Mike, or like a fist, one knuckle. So there was a chance that like,
14:32something out there could happen that would be really, really bad, like a cardiac episode.
14:37All of that got cleared. But I had I, I would have never known this had I not applied to
14:42Beyond Survivor. So in a way, it's good. You know, it may have saved my life. I have no idea.
14:48But it's just like a crazy thing that you would never know until you go through the casting
14:52process.
14:54Wild. Wow. I mean, we came in with surprises around your exit, and then we bring another
15:00surprise to us, Justin, you are a man that is full of them. Thank you so much for everything.
15:07I mean, you know how much I relish the time that we get to chat both on and off island. And again,
15:12look, a lot of different players can have a lot of different reactions to everything that went
15:15down. But the fact that you have come out with your head held high and again, so much gratitude
15:19about what this experience has brought to you in so many different ways, as we're now discovering,
15:25it's really admirable. So always great talking with you, man. And please give my best to you
15:30and your family as well. I'm a huge fan of everything to do with Luigi's and I'm looking
15:36at our table. I hope you know that for you. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I will be very much good
15:40on you. Oh, thank you. Likewise. Likewise. Well, all the best to you and Luigi's and the family
15:46in and out of the store as well. And thanks so much again, Justin, you have a good one.