#118 Challengers Unplugged: Beyond The Edit with Ben Driebergen

Hey Fandom! Welcome back for another episode of Challengers Unplugged where your hosts Rick, Corrina and Tony take you beyond the edit with a Challenger from MTV's The Challenge. This week we are joined by Ben Driebergen from Survivor 35, Survivor 40, The Challenge USA and Challenge World Championship all airing on CBS and Paramount Plus. We start off by catching up with Ben about "Benzo", Cinco dancing to W.A.P., building choppers in Reno and Marijuana legalization plus it's benefits (0:00 - 14:10). We then jump into Ben's early life with what it was like growing up in Boise, his father coming out as gay man plus the evolution of their relationship to get to where they are now, plus what his dreams were as a kid and what made him want to join the military. Next, Ben breaks down some of his active military training and active duty stories including his very first fire fight and a time where he was put in a position to make a decision on a life he knew nothing about. We also talk about how he met his wife, his history as a reality TV fan, other shows he applied to be on and finally his breakthrough into Survivor. Our co-host Tony takes us on a journey with Ben through both of his Survivor seasons including his surprising win on Heroes VS Healers VS Hustlers and then returning for one of the most anticipated themed seasons of Survivor - Winners At War. Ben gives us details on the alliance workings on his first season and going to fire that ultimately led to his win. He also goes into depth on what happened on Winners At War between him and Sarah and how that effected his game moving forward on The Challenge USA and The Challenge World Championship (14:10 - 1:33:00). Ben talks about why he thinks it's important to make friends in The Challenge house, the difference between a Survivor social game and a Challenge social game plus what his top partner picks were on World Championship, how The Misfits alliance came to be, what happened with "Survivor Strong" on Challenge USA and World Championship, getting another physical DQ on the show, why he felt Sarah was disingenuous on World Championship and finally we finish it off with some MT Rushmore lists as well as some Survivors Ben would like to see do The Challenge and vice versa.

We had such an incredible time with Ben and he was so open, honest, vulnerable and respectful. We honestly couldn't have asked for more from Ben and we hope you all enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Ben Driebergen IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendriebergen/

Ben Driebergen Cameo: https://www.cameo.com/bdriebergen?utm_campaign=profile_share

Ben Bombs (Clothing Line): https://www.benbomb.com/

Stay Loco (Jay Starrett Clothing Line): https://www.jaystarrett.com/

Fat Tony "Neon Moon" Remix: https://open.spotify.com/track/6nhTMYmnDaOmz7KgH4C27q?si=56db9559769b43e2

David Bloomberg Rules of Survivor Poster: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rules-of-Survivor-Poster-Rules-by-David-Bloomberg-Designed-by-Dabu-Doodles/202900330176?hash=item2f3dcd56c0%3Ag%3AIf0AAOSwcrdcp4zG&fbclid=IwAR3uv3AyCBGUw_-wZpQ6HXYjE7vCnSdJMARViJN1tdvjBY06n85JsEIE9aA

Danny McCray Unplugged: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/gt8e1Vv3xAb

Horacio Gutierrez, JR Unplugged: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/BqBpmXv3xAb

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