This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Tommy Bracco: Hi everyone, it's Tommy and Anjelica and I'm Phil and you are listening to Real Tawk. Oh boy.

[0:08] Anjelica Vispisiano: This is a special episode. Special. I'm emotionally drained.

[0:17] Phil Bracco: From tonight?

[0:17] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Your first reality TV.

[0:24] Phil Bracco: I know, but that brought back so many, like, you know, frustrations to me. It was really difficult.

[0:31] Tommy Bracco: Yes. All right. So let's start from the beginning. Let's just quickly dive into how we got there. Okay. So today, let's talk about 99 To Beat!.

[0:40] Anjelica Vispisiano: Okay. So two days before our wedding, Rachel Riley calls me and says, do you and your husband want to be on a new reality show?

[0:47] Tommy Bracco: And I said, we are about to walk down the aisle. Can you please call me after the weekend?

[0:51] Anjelica Vispisiano: So she does. And we're trying to make it work, Joey and I, but he's not really into reality TV. We all know this.

[0:58] Tommy Bracco: Right. No.

[0:58] Anjelica Vispisiano: And we have to go on a honeymoon and our cousin's getting married in Japan. So he needs vacation time that he does not have. He works a normal job. So he says, Thomas, I don't know if I could pull this off. We're having this conversation while we're in your kitchen. And what do you do?

[1:09] Tommy Bracco: I'll do it.

[1:10] Anjelica Vispisiano: So I pitched it to the network and they were into it. Next thing we know, we're on a flight out to London.

[1:20] Tommy Bracco: So the thing is this, I wanted to get the pressure off of Joey, right? Because I felt bad for him because let's be honest, you put a little bit of pressure, right? You were like, come on, Joey, you got to do this.

[1:30] Phil Bracco: That's so insane. You know what he's doing right now, right?

[1:34] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yes. Take it away. What is he doing?

[1:39] Phil Bracco: Yes. He's manipulating his own minds. Are you talking about that?

[1:43] Anjelica Vispisiano: A hundred percent. Yes. I feel like that was such an insane thing for you to say when you are so opportunistic when it comes to reality TV. Number one. Number two, you hate Joey.

[1:57] Phil Bracco: Yeah, I do not hate him.

[1:57] Anjelica Vispisiano: You literally shit on Joey every chance you get.

[2:01] Phil Bracco: Because I love him. That's why.

[2:05] Anjelica Vispisiano: So you shit on him because you love him?

[2:05] Phil Bracco: Yeah, because I tell him. You don't shit on me.

[2:08] Anjelica Vispisiano: I always say things like, you're not right. You say Angelica's always right.

[2:14] Phil Bracco: So that's shitting on me?

[2:19] Anjelica Vispisiano: Well, I got to be a little careful with you. You do get upset.

[2:19] Phil Bracco: Oh, so he knows. I'm a woman. I can't stand him.

[2:26] Tommy Bracco: So, okay. So you volunteer, I guess, to take the pressure off of Joey, which is bullshit, but whatever. Right. Let's go with that.

[2:34] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Not like you literally have a reality TV podcast.

[2:41] Phil Bracco: Actually, two of them. Uncle Phil's is more sports right now because Victoria's really busy.

[2:45] Anjelica Vispisiano: Right. Okay. So we fly out to London and we get to have this experience together. We show up, hotel sucks, but we're in good spirits. It's all good. 100 contestants. So we're moved around like cattle. The food is bad. We're having a rough time.

[3:04] Tommy Bracco: You guys had a rough time when you were there.

[3:07] Anjelica Vispisiano: I saw your video. The one thing you're missing is when I put the pancakes in the toaster oven and got yelled at.

[3:13] Phil Bracco: I know you took a video of that.

[3:15] Anjelica Vispisiano: You're so right. Where's that video?

[3:17] Phil Bracco: I don't know.

[3:19] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh my gosh. You're so right. I was looking forward to watching that again.

[3:23] Phil Bracco: I know. The way I got yelled at.

[3:25] Anjelica Vispisiano: I wonder if you have videos on your phone too that I got to look for. Anyway, let's get into that later.

[3:29] Tommy Bracco: Okay. So we're competing. First challenge, we do well. Right?

[3:37] Phil Bracco: First challenge is what?

[3:37] Anjelica Vispisiano: I did not do well. It was the balloon popping.

[3:38] Phil Bracco: First challenge is the balloon. You did okay. We both made it out of there. We didn't come in last.

[3:42] Anjelica Vispisiano: But I didn't do well. I got a black and blue on my ass from popping the balloons by jumping on them. I'm afraid of balloons when they pop. So I was sitting-

[3:48] Phil Bracco: Did you know that? That he has a fear of balloons?

[3:53] Anjelica Vispisiano: It's like your father.

[3:54] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[3:54] Anjelica Vispisiano: Right. He has a fear. That same fear?

[3:56] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[3:56] Anjelica Vispisiano: Bad.

[3:57] Phil Bracco: Well, I never heard the end of it. The whole time we were there, I have a fear of balloons. I'm like-

[4:02] Anjelica Vispisiano: No.

[4:03] Phil Bracco: So are you five? I'm confused.

[4:05] Anjelica Vispisiano: I'm afraid. I don't like-

[4:06] Phil Bracco: You remember when my dad was freaking out when somebody asked him to take the balloons home from the hospital?

[4:12] Anjelica Vispisiano: No.

[4:13] Phil Bracco: When I gave birth?

[4:15] Anjelica Vispisiano: I didn't know this.

[4:16] Phil Bracco: You were there.

[4:18] Anjelica Vispisiano: I don't know. I didn't know that. I don't remember this. That's so crazy.

[4:21] Phil Bracco: So that's number one. So now I'm sitting on everyone so I don't feel- so I don't do this in front. You bit them. I don't know why I didn't show you biting it.

[4:29] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. I was biting the balloons.

[4:30] Phil Bracco: That was really good. But-

[4:31] Anjelica Vispisiano: Thanks, Dad.

[4:32] Phil Bracco: So then I got- I finally- there's nothing there. And when I looked over and saw it on the floor, I picked up somebody else's length.

[4:40] Anjelica Vispisiano: I took a bunch of balloons, brought them out to the side, away from everyone, popped them all, had no lays. So then I just found one on the floor and picked that up and took it. It could have been that I was sitting on them and I missed it, right?

[4:53] Tommy Bracco: Right.

[4:54] Phil Bracco: I don't know. But I got through that one.

[4:57] Anjelica Vispisiano: He was probably handing lays to people left and right.

[4:59] Phil Bracco: You made it through.

[5:04] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Maybe he popped my leg. All right. So then we move on to the second game, which is the whistle.

[5:06] Phil Bracco: Okay. The second thing I hate in life is wet socks, right? Balloons and wet socks.

[5:11] Anjelica Vispisiano: So balloons, wet socks.

[5:12] Phil Bracco: And wet socks are the top two. And I'm in my head, I'm freaking out going, this is not good. My feet are going to be wet. So I took my-

[5:22] Anjelica Vispisiano: Why were your feet going to be wet?

[5:24] Phil Bracco: Because you take your shoes off, right? Because I have one pair of sneakers with me. Everybody was talking about taking your socks off immediately to use them as gloves to try and get a better grip on the ice.

[5:37] Anjelica Vispisiano: I did not hear anybody do that. That was my idea.

[5:40] Tommy Bracco: Let's talk about the-

[5:40] Anjelica Vispisiano: I did not hear that.

[5:41] Phil Bracco: Okay. Let's talk about the ice challenge. So the rules were, you could not break the ice on the floor. And if a chunk of ice fell on the floor, then you got a penalty. So everyone was trying to hold onto the ice and not let it slip out of your hand.

[5:57] Anjelica Vispisiano: Right.

[5:58] Phil Bracco: So in order to have a better grip, people came up with the strategy, take off your socks, put them on your hands and use them as gloves. So that's why you see in the show, a lot of people are doing that, myself included. But honestly, it didn't really help or work, I don't think. Because I did not do well in that challenge.

[6:18] Anjelica Vispisiano: I did excellent in that one. That was my best one.

[6:20] Phil Bracco: You were out before Thomas? Like you were clear?

[6:22] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yes. I was out real quick and I had an emotion. I went, yeah, and didn't show that one.

[6:29] Phil Bracco: Didn't you tell me you were rubbing it on your head at one point?

[6:31] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. You didn't see that?

[6:34] Phil Bracco: No.

[6:34] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. So they were showing Richie, and I'm behind Richie going like this.

[6:40] Phil Bracco: Right. Yeah.

[6:41] Anjelica Vispisiano: Sitting on the floor, right?

[6:42] Phil Bracco: Sitting on the floor. And I was done real quick. Like an orangutan.

[6:46] Anjelica Vispisiano: And I was very happy. I thought I was going to be really good at the game after that one. And then we move on to the next game.

[6:53] Phil Bracco: Guess the weight challenge.

[6:54] Anjelica Vispisiano: Guess the weight. And we did well on that one. We took a risk with the first one. I was a little emotional when you jump on Uncle Phil after you guys get it right.

[7:02] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[7:02] Anjelica Vispisiano: That was so cute.

[7:03] Phil Bracco: It was so cute. It really was.

[7:06] Anjelica Vispisiano: I was completely, completely confident that we were right the second one.

[7:11] Phil Bracco: Yes. And you were even right the first one. Thomas just didn't listen to you.

[7:15] Anjelica Vispisiano: He was. Yeah.

[7:16] Phil Bracco: I'm glad you hear me say this is a little risky. I think it's the middle.

[7:18] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah.

[7:19] Phil Bracco: I know. That was crazy. They played that.

[7:21] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. That was crazy. I feel like you guys-

[7:23] Phil Bracco: Because you didn't have to go with me. I didn't tell you.

[7:25] Anjelica Vispisiano: I didn't want to leave you alone.

[7:27] Phil Bracco: You didn't have to. You could have gone and played your own game.

[7:31] Anjelica Vispisiano: He would have never left you alone.

[7:32] Phil Bracco: I think if I would have been there longer, I would have done that.

[7:34] Anjelica Vispisiano: Right.

[7:35] Phil Bracco: It was right away. So I figured, let me just stay with you.

[7:37] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Okay.

[7:38] Phil Bracco: No, it's a father's thing. You want to protect the cubs.

[7:41] Anjelica Vispisiano: Sure. Even the 40-year-old's cubs?

[7:45] Phil Bracco: I know. I'm like, okay, I'm a cub. All right. So now we move on. And what happens?

[7:50] Anjelica Vispisiano: Uh, so well, the thing, what I did really well was when I looked, when the judges came out, I looked at the males and I said, 200 pounds a piece. And then the females, I said, 100 pounds a piece.

[8:00] Phil Bracco: Now I know the females are not 100 pounds. So I just did that as-

[8:06] Anjelica Vispisiano: But you do know the average male is 200 pounds. So why'd you low ball the women so much?

[8:10] Phil Bracco: Yeah, that was a weird one.

[8:11] Anjelica Vispisiano: I didn't want to insult them. You know, you always make fun of me.

[8:15] Phil Bracco: Did you go up to these women and say, I'm guessing that you're 100 pounds? What do you mean you didn't want to insult them? With your own mind, you didn't want to insult them?

[8:24] Anjelica Vispisiano: I was very quick in my head. So 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. I made it so complicated. I guessed 130 for all the women and 180 for the men and did the math in my head. And I was like panicking, like trying to do the math without anything. I said 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

[8:38] Phil Bracco: I feel like that was really good.

[8:42] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. I would have thought 130 for the women.

[8:43] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[8:43] Anjelica Vispisiano: Okay. But I was completely confident we had that one right.

[8:46] Phil Bracco: And you did?

[8:47] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah, we did.

[8:48] Phil Bracco: And you did.

[8:49] Anjelica Vispisiano: Thank goodness, because that camel was tough.

[8:51] Phil Bracco: Yes.

[8:52] Anjelica Vispisiano: You said the camel was shitting, right?

[8:54] Phil Bracco: Everywhere.

[8:54] Anjelica Vispisiano: The camel took the biggest shit I ever saw. We were all like, oh my God, it's still going. It was pouring out of its ass.

[9:02] Phil Bracco: Ew.

[9:02] Anjelica Vispisiano: And it went all over the stadium because it was wet and it just did a horizontal splatter, literally all over the stage, all over the floor.

[9:11] Phil Bracco: Oh my goodness.

[9:11] Anjelica Vispisiano: And the whole entire room stunk. It was crazy.

[9:15] Phil Bracco: Ew.

[9:15] Anjelica Vispisiano: I don't know how they ... I feel like they AI edited it to make it not look as bad on the show.

[9:20] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[9:21] Anjelica Vispisiano: Right?

[9:22] Phil Bracco: And then who they have cleaned it up, the low people on the totem pole, right?

[9:25] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah, all the cute little refs.

[9:27] Phil Bracco: The young girls and young guys.

[9:30] Anjelica Vispisiano: It was so sad.

[9:31] Phil Bracco: What?

[9:32] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. It was crazy.

[9:33] Phil Bracco: Wait, they didn't have a cleaning crew?

[9:35] Anjelica Vispisiano: No, it was all the staff, the production. They had to get down and start cleaning the shit.

[9:40] Phil Bracco: It was crazy.

[9:42] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh my goodness.

[9:43] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[9:44] Anjelica Vispisiano: Here was another little-

[9:45] Phil Bracco: But after challenges like that, I'm surprised they don't have a cleaning crew. Each challenge needs to be cleaned after.

[9:51] Anjelica Vispisiano: I know. I know.

[9:52] Phil Bracco: And it was just like interns doing it?

[9:56] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yes.

[9:56] Phil Bracco: And think about it.

[9:57] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Just like people on production.

[9:59] Phil Bracco: And think about it. Whatever. Yeah. We're doing the ice challenge on that floor right before that. If that was flipped, it's kind of gross.

[10:06] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh yeah.

[10:08] Phil Bracco: That's what I was thinking about.

[10:09] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. 100%.

[10:10] Phil Bracco: Wow.

[10:11] Anjelica Vispisiano: Ah. And then we get to the pasta challenge. Let's talk about the pasta challenge.

[10:20] Phil Bracco: I will say that-

[10:21] Anjelica Vispisiano: I will say that there's no way that those pastas were thinner than what you got right there.

[10:27] Phil Bracco: It's impossible.

[10:28] Anjelica Vispisiano: Correct. Correct. They're about this thin. They are. Oh wait, these are them.

[10:33] Phil Bracco: They're not them.

[10:34] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh, I thought I brought them home. We have some props from the show.

[10:37] Phil Bracco: And roll through them out.

[10:38] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh, okay. That makes sense. Of course.

[10:40] Phil Bracco: So this was a lei that we got from challenge number one.

[10:43] Anjelica Vispisiano: Here's the whistle.

[10:44] Phil Bracco: Oh, that's like actually it?

[10:45] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. This was the whistle from the show.

[10:49] Phil Bracco: Yep.

[10:49] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yep. It was our little cup. The cup's going to come up later.

[10:53] Phil Bracco: Yeah. There's more here somewhere, but-

[10:56] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. There's a couple more floating around. We'll bring them out next episode.

[10:58] Phil Bracco: All right. So what happened? What happened with the pasta challenge?

[11:01] Anjelica Vispisiano: Let's talk about the pasta challenge.

[11:03] Anjelica Vispisiano: All right. I did really well and I don't know. It wasn't shown, but I did really well. I got five in a month right away.

[11:13] Phil Bracco: And then they took a break because there was a pasta on the floor and they had to check the videotape to see-

[11:18] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Something happened with Cara Maria's pasta. They had to stop.

[11:25] Phil Bracco: Whenever something goes wrong in the game, they need to pause it. There was this-

[11:29] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. I don't think it was her.

[11:30] Phil Bracco: The game master.

[11:31] Anjelica Vispisiano: It was somebody else.

[11:32] Phil Bracco: Really?

[11:33] Anjelica Vispisiano: I don't think it was Cara Maria.

[11:34] Phil Bracco: Oh, okay. I might've got that wrong.

[11:36] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah.

[11:36] Phil Bracco: Okay. So-

[11:38] Anjelica Vispisiano: The game master comes on.

[11:39] Phil Bracco: The game master comes on the guard mic and goes, stop, stop, stop. And we all-

[11:43] Anjelica Vispisiano: It was Janet. It was the girl from Brooklyn. Joanne.

[11:49] Phil Bracco: Carla? Oh, Joanne.

[11:50] Anjelica Vispisiano: It was Joanne.

[11:51] Phil Bracco: Got it. Got it. Okay. So the game master comes on and goes, stop, stop, stop. And everyone has to freeze where they are. So I am thinking that, okay, good. Now he has a second to breathe. He has one more pasta to get. Now, as soon as he can take a breath, breathe, and then they're going to call go, and he's just going to be able to scoop that last pasta right on.

[12:11] Phil Bracco: It was a 20-minute break.

[12:12] Anjelica Vispisiano: Nope. It was not a 20-minute break.

[12:14] Phil Bracco: It was probably like 10 minutes.

[12:16] Anjelica Vispisiano: It felt like 20 minutes. Okay.

[12:18] Phil Bracco: And then what happened was the heat from the lights, I started to wilt. I just started to wilt. I went under the desk and hid my head from the heat. That's how hot it was.

[12:32] Anjelica Vispisiano: Wait, can we rewind actually? This is a totally crucial part that I forgot to talk about. So before you go into the stadium, they line you up in these long warehouse-looking hallways. And there's no color, bright fluorescent lights. So we're waiting to go in and play the next game. And my dad goes, oh, I feel a little lightheaded. I feel a little off. I need to take my blood pressure medication. I'm like, all right, just take a breath. You're okay. So then we go into the game and he's playing this pasta game and it's not going well.

[13:07] Tommy Bracco: And then at some point I'm like, come on, you got this screaming at him. He just stops. He stops competing. He literally just starts sitting there. He stops trying.

[13:17] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh my goodness.

[13:18] Tommy Bracco: So now I'm not kidding. I actually thought he was having a heart attack because of what he told me in the hallway. So I was actually standing on the side panicking for a while. I'm just trying to like, you know, give him courage and hype him up. But then I stop and I don't think they show that, but I literally just got nervous and quiet because I was like, oh, is he going to die right now on 99 To Beat? That would, that would be crazy.

[13:44] Phil Bracco: No, I literally, my brain went there. So what happened was I dropped the thing the second time and I got a little discouraged. So I just sat there and then he yelled at me, don't give up.

[13:57] Tommy Bracco: Now looking back, would you ever just sit there again?

[14:01] Phil Bracco: No. Cause I not seeing everybody else. I didn't know that Joanne, uh, that Sarah's kept breaking too. It says you're that's, that should be irrelevant, whether you continue or not.

[14:13] Tommy Bracco: It was so, you don't know. It was so frustrating when that they fell off, like they were there and you see it just go like this and it just all slid down. And I was like, oh, I just worked so hard the second time to get five on. And then after he did that, I looked at him and you see me shake my head and I got five in a row really quick and I had the sixth one on and it just couldn't get it up. The crazy part was he actually was really good at it. I swear on everything. He would literally get five on really quick, like make it look easy. And then I was like, oh, he's got this, like he's going to be okay. And then he would get to five and it would just, the other thing you didn't see too much of it was this.

[14:57] Phil Bracco: Yes. His pasta. What do we always talk about in the family? His reputation is what?

[15:03] Tommy Bracco: Yes. What?

[15:04] Phil Bracco: His shakes.

[15:05] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. He has the shakes. So now he's got to do a challenge where he has to keep still this time. It's not the hands you're going to put that. Don't put that.

[15:14] Phil Bracco: So yeah, it was, it was insane. And then again, I'm doing, I'm taking the glasses off. I'm putting them back on because you can't see in the hole, right? You're, you're getting double vision and you can't see.

[15:26] Anjelica Vispisiano: Because it's so close and it's so tiny.

[15:28] Phil Bracco: And I got into weird positions.

[15:31] Tommy Bracco: Oh yeah. Yep. Well, they showed that. What'd they say? Sports illustrated.

[15:35] Phil Bracco: They said, Phil looks like he's on sports illustrated. Ass up. Full split on your knees.

[15:43] Anjelica Vispisiano: You would think he was the gay one.

[15:48] Phil Bracco: Cracked the code.

[15:53] Tommy Bracco: Um, John texted me and asked me if, um, all the males were gay. Was it, was that like, hello?

[16:03] Phil Bracco: Yes. No, no, not at all.

[16:06] Tommy Bracco: Okay. So no, here's what it is. When I found out this from a casting director at some point, most of the people who try out for these reality shows are gay men. So most of them are gay men. So they have a plethora of them to choose from apparently.

[16:25] Phil Bracco: Wow.

[16:26] Tommy Bracco: So, and it kind of makes sense. Think about reality fans, like not only just reality fans, but who would go for it? Like, how many straight guys do we know that would like fight to be on reality TV?

[16:38] Phil Bracco: I could think of two off the top of my head.

[16:40] Anjelica Vispisiano: You don't count.

[16:41] Phil Bracco: I could think of three on the top of my head. I actually forgot him. I didn't count him. I could think of three on the top of my head. That's it. But how many gay people do I know that would be on reality television? A lot.

[16:52] Tommy Bracco: You pretty much everyone, you know, you know, any gay person that wouldn't be on reality TV.

[16:58] Phil Bracco: No.

[16:59] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. So, okay. Joey.

[17:01] Phil Bracco: Oh, one.

[17:02] Tommy Bracco: Joey, one.

[17:04] Phil Bracco: No, but Joey would for the right one.

[17:05] Tommy Bracco: No.

[17:06] Phil Bracco: Joey wanted to do Amazing Race. What are you talking about?

[17:08] Tommy Bracco: Yeah, he would do Amazing Race.

[17:09] Phil Bracco: He sabotaged that one.

[17:10] Tommy Bracco: He did sabotage that one. He did.

[17:11] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[17:14] Phil Bracco: Oh, don't say that.

[17:17] Tommy Bracco: So anyway, what's it called? So they had a plethora to choose from. And because of that, because of the like format of this game that it's 100 contestants, it's really okay if there's like a lot of gay people.

[17:29] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah.

[17:31] Phil Bracco: So they were like, okay, I don't care. But just know if someone's watching it is like, Oh, this, this show is mostly gays, you're included in that mostly gay. After that split on the floor, you are who they're talking about.

[17:45] Tommy Bracco: My friend asked, Anthony's gonna love this conversation.

[17:50] Phil Bracco: Anthony who?

[17:50] Tommy Bracco: Cittadini.

[17:51] Phil Bracco: Oh, he's so funny. He loves listening to our thing.

[17:54] Tommy Bracco: Oh, I thought you were saying that he loves that you're gay.

[17:56] Phil Bracco: No.

[17:57] Tommy Bracco: Like this is broke back now.

[18:01] Phil Bracco: Anyway, so I think you people are going off the rails here. I don't think I don't care what person's sexual orientation is to be on TV if they're good TV.

[18:11] Anjelica Vispisiano: Very progressive.

[18:12] Phil Bracco: Any of us say that we care?

[18:13] Tommy Bracco: Yeah, I don't know.

[18:15] Phil Bracco: Okay, go off progressive, progressive queen.

[18:19] Tommy Bracco: I'm just saying, to me, it doesn't matter.

[18:23] Anjelica Vispisiano: 100%.

[18:24] Phil Bracco: None of us are arguing.

[18:26] Tommy Bracco: People in this thing that weren't gay. I don't make sense what you're saying.

[18:30] Phil Bracco: You're right. It was about half. But the fact of the matter is usually with a cast, there's one gay guy. There's like a token gay.

[18:34] Tommy Bracco: Right. We're just used to big brother.

[18:38] Phil Bracco: Yes, exactly. Just like these reality shows, The Challenge, Survivor, there's always a token gay.

[18:47] Anjelica Vispisiano: Okay.

[18:49] Phil Bracco: I actually love, we're all agreeing that we love that there were like, there's no like token, like there's multiple gay people.

[18:54] Tommy Bracco: Okay. It was nice. It was fine.

[18:59] Phil Bracco: It was a very LGBTQ friendly cast.

[19:06] Tommy Bracco: Love.

[19:07] Phil Bracco: So it was great. It was a lot of fun.

[19:09] Tommy Bracco: I'm just going to say that I had a really great time doing this with you. I got to see your world and I love doing it. I had a great time. I wish I was there longer to help you, support you more. And there's a little bit of a failure of me to get past episode one.

[19:27] Phil Bracco: No, it's a failure.

[19:29] Tommy Bracco: No, it's not a failure, dad.

[19:31] Phil Bracco: I didn't get past episode one.

[19:32] Tommy Bracco: Yeah, it is, Thomas.

[19:33] Phil Bracco: No, and let's be honest. It is what it is. But it's a start. It's not a failure. It's a start.

[19:39] Anjelica Vispisiano: That's how I look at it.

[19:40] Phil Bracco: Right. Now you got to go on another one.

[19:42] Tommy Bracco: Yeah.

[19:43] Phil Bracco: You can't let that be your one and only reality TV.

[19:47] Tommy Bracco: And you know what? I will say another thing here, and this is something I'm going to get off my chest now. I've always said I'm shy, right? And everybody makes fun of me and says, you're not shy.

[19:56] Anjelica Vispisiano: No, I agree. You're shy.

[19:59] Tommy Bracco: I was not shy. I don't know what came over me.

[20:02] Phil Bracco: Nuts.

[20:05] Tommy Bracco: Really like very friendly. I got to say one of the highlights was during the guessing of the weight competition, when we got it right, when the way that everyone came and jumped all over us and supported us, that moment sticks in my head. Because that was the moment that I was like, wow, we have friends. We did it. We're doing great. It was really nice.

[20:30] Phil Bracco: If that was a vote out one, we would not have been voted out.

[20:32] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. There was no voting in this game.

[20:36] Phil Bracco: I said if it was a vote out one.

[20:38] Tommy Bracco: He's constantly pretending he's our big brother. Do you remember when he was there, John was freaking out. Then all he was doing was talking about his social game.

[20:47] Phil Bracco: And John was like, you don't need a social game for this show.

[20:50] Tommy Bracco: Here's what I will say though. You do need a social game for this show. Because you've got people to root for you. You'll see when you finish the task, you go on the side and you scream for your friends and you tell them what to do. So if you have friends, you help your friends.

[21:05] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. 100%.

[21:06] Phil Bracco: There were totally times, I'm not going to give anything away, but I needed help. And there were times that I gave help.

[21:12] Tommy Bracco: So social game, it might not seem like it plays a part in this game, but it really does.

[21:17] Phil Bracco: Yeah. But the fact that he just said, if it was a vote out and there's no voting.

[21:22] Tommy Bracco: No, because I really, I did.

[21:25] Phil Bracco: You came out of your shell and it felt good.

[21:27] Tommy Bracco: And I actually love these people. They were really nice people.

[21:30] Anjelica Vispisiano: You guys have a group chat, right?

[21:31] Phil Bracco: And I, yeah. Oh yeah.

[21:32] Tommy Bracco: Is it all 100 people?

[21:36] Phil Bracco: No, we're missing like a couple, but yeah.

[21:38] Tommy Bracco: It's pretty much most of the cast.

[21:40] Phil Bracco: Yeah.

[21:40] Tommy Bracco: Like how many? Like over 70?

[21:42] Phil Bracco: It's like 90.

[21:43] Tommy Bracco: I think it's like 90.

[21:45] Phil Bracco: Yeah. Like 92, 93.

[21:47] Tommy Bracco: Whoa. That's crazy. How does a chat with 92 people work?

[21:54] Phil Bracco: It has to stay on mute, unfortunately. And then you just check it all the time.

[21:59] Tommy Bracco: I actually just took it off mute today for the first time.

[22:02] Phil Bracco: I have it on. I don't have it on mute.

[22:03] Tommy Bracco: His phone is just dinging nonstop.

[22:05] Phil Bracco: I don't have it on mute. I'm, you know.

[22:07] Anjelica Vispisiano: Is it iMessage or WhatsApp?

[22:09] Phil Bracco: WhatsApp.

[22:10] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. Because there's some people in the UK.

[22:12] Anjelica Vispisiano: Yeah. Cute.

[22:14] Phil Bracco: And when you're standing in that circle, we're all talking to each other and getting to know our people, our partners next to us.

[22:21] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. You get really close to the people that you're next to.

[22:23] Phil Bracco: And I was very surprised. Like I didn't think that that would happen to me.

[22:26] Anjelica Vispisiano: My God. Lizzie next to you. Obsessed with her.

[22:29] Phil Bracco: She was great.

[22:30] Tommy Bracco: Amazing. Such a cool person.

[22:32] Phil Bracco: She was great.

[22:33] Tommy Bracco: All of them.

[22:34] Phil Bracco: I got to talk to people and get their history, like their stories and stuff.

[22:38] Tommy Bracco: And share that with people.

[22:42] Phil Bracco: So it was really a great time. I really did. It was amazing.

[22:46] Tommy Bracco: You had fun. That's important.

[22:48] Phil Bracco: But now you got to do another one.

[22:50] Tommy Bracco: Sorry. Can't have that be your last.

[22:53] Phil Bracco: You were out the first episode.

[22:54] Tommy Bracco: I don't know. Well, see, I didn't look too bad. I talked a little bit.

[22:58] Phil Bracco: Yeah. They loved you.

[23:00] Tommy Bracco: You were the star of episode one.

[23:02] Phil Bracco: A hundred percent.

[23:03] Tommy Bracco: So not bad.

[23:04] Phil Bracco: Not bad.

[23:04] Tommy Bracco: I wonder if we asked a stranger to watch and said, name the most three memorable people after episode one. He would definitely be in.

[23:12] Phil Bracco: A hundred percent.

[23:13] Tommy Bracco: Every time.

[23:13] Phil Bracco: A hundred percent. Yeah, you did great. You made your mark. It was short and sweet, but it was impactful.

[23:21] Tommy Bracco: Yeah.

[23:22] Phil Bracco: You made a big impact. You really did. Even when he got eliminated, the way that he gets surrounded, not just by me, but by everyone.

[23:29] Tommy Bracco: That was crazy.

[23:30] Phil Bracco: It was amazing to see everyone running.

[23:32] Tommy Bracco: It went on for a while too, with everybody. And you didn't get to see my eviction dance.

[23:39] Phil Bracco: It was so good.

[23:40] Tommy Bracco: Eviction.

[23:42] Phil Bracco: Like it was a vote out.

[23:45] Tommy Bracco: Elimination.

[23:45] Phil Bracco: My elimination.

[23:47] Tommy Bracco: He said eviction.

[23:48] Phil Bracco: I, it was so good. And I was pumping the whole crowd up. They were all going nuts. And Ken was-

[23:54] Tommy Bracco: Going nuts.

[23:54] Phil Bracco: They were going nuts.

[23:55] Tommy Bracco: No, Ken was in the stands and going like this, to me.

[24:00] Phil Bracco: Oh, I love that.

[24:02] Tommy Bracco: He was blowing kisses to them.

[24:02] Phil Bracco: I was-

[24:02] Tommy Bracco: Yeah, he was blowing kisses to Erin.

[24:04] Phil Bracco: Oh my goodness.

[24:05] Tommy Bracco: With mommy like that?

[24:06] Phil Bracco: No, it was both of them.

[24:09] Tommy Bracco: I don't know about that.

[24:11] Phil Bracco: You were blowing kisses to another woman?

[24:13] Tommy Bracco: No, to the celebrity host.

[24:17] Phil Bracco: The singular host?

[24:18] Tommy Bracco: There was two of them.

[24:19] Phil Bracco: There was two of them.

[24:20] Tommy Bracco: He said the celebrity host.

[24:21] Phil Bracco: Host.

[24:24] Tommy Bracco: He just, he literally repeated host.

[24:27] Phil Bracco: The host.

[24:29] Tommy Bracco: He did repeat host.

[24:32] Phil Bracco: Yeah, the two hosts. And-

[24:36] Tommy Bracco: Can you not say hosts?

[24:42] Phil Bracco: Hosts.

[24:45] Tommy Bracco: He's the worst. He really is.

[24:48] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh my gosh.

[24:49] Phil Bracco: Anyway, so-

[24:50] Tommy Bracco: So they didn't show that too bad.

[24:52] Phil Bracco: They showed a little bit. You saw me start to move.

[24:54] Tommy Bracco: Yeah, and then-

[24:55] Phil Bracco: And then go like this with the thing.

[24:56] Tommy Bracco: Yes.

[24:57] Phil Bracco: And even when I was walking out the thing, the tunnel, you got to see a little bit.

[25:01] Tommy Bracco: Anyway, what questions do you have?

[25:03] Anjelica Vispisiano: Oh, okay. I have some questions.

[25:05] Tommy Bracco: I know you got questions.

[25:06] Anjelica Vispisiano: All right.

[25:07] Tommy Bracco: I heard my name.

[25:07] Anjelica Vispisiano: All right, we got some questions.

[25:09] Phil Bracco: I said I came to your rescue and I volunteered to do the show.

[25:15] Tommy Bracco: That's what I said.

[25:17] Anjelica Vispisiano: Okay.

[25:19] Phil Bracco: It's hard because we've only seen one episode so far. So I feel like I have a lot of questions, but I feel like we need to see a little bit more of the show. But okay, so the 99 to beat slogan is don't come last. Now, do you feel like there's any sort of mental aspect to when the numbers are dwindling with specifically knowing you cannot come last, otherwise you're eliminated? Do you feel like it gets harder as the competition goes on?

[25:47] Phil Bracco: I can't answer that. So you'll have to wait and see how far I get. But I will say that I was more nervous in the beginning because I didn't know what to expect. So then once you get like a little more comfortable, you don't feel so stressful, even if it's like you and three other people left.

[26:10] Phil Bracco: Actually, you want to know what's really cool. The girl, Sarah, who...

[26:14] Anjelica Conti: She waits until there's like 10 people left and she's like, okay, now it's time to kick it into high gear. But before that, she doesn't even sweat an ounce; she's dancing. You see her in episode one, she's dancing. She's having fun, truly just like out there jamming.

[26:42] Phil Bracco: Oh my God. I go into every single competition panicked. She's like, no, I don't panic until there's like 15 people left. And then I'm like, all right, time to start like kicking it into high gear. And I was like, whoa, what a weird twisted way to think about this. Strategies in a sense? I mean, to me, that stuck with me because I'm like, that's totally a mental strategy. Right. That was very impressive. So shout out to Sarah. That was very cool.

[27:06] Anjelica Conti: I will say I did not, I was not nervous at all in any of them.

[27:10] Phil Bracco: And what it is, even the pasta one when you first started?

[27:14] Anjelica Conti: No, I was not nervous. I was so confident I was going to get it until the very end.

[27:18] Phil Bracco: Wow.

[27:19] Anjelica Conti: I had no doubt in my mind because I got them on so quickly. I just couldn't get the sixth one.

[27:25] Phil Bracco: Wow. That's crazy.

[27:27] Anjelica Conti: It was just, it was sick. Um, Thomas, what's harder, this or Big Brother?

[27:31] Tommy Bracco: This, this was the hardest thing I ever did. Which is insane. It looks ridiculous cause it's all like silly games, but I'm telling you the mental gymnastics that you had to do. Like we would go into every game, stressed out, panicking, just not knowing how it was going to go. You would get through and then you would be so excited. You're on a high and then you would crash and then you would have to like gear up and play another game immediately.

[27:56] Anjelica Conti: And yeah, it is the adrenaline up and down. That's all it was.

[28:00] Tommy Bracco: It was my body. The chemicals in my body were doing crazy things. I was literally just going like this all day long. Every day I would get back to the room and I could not fall asleep. I was literally having panic attacks, which I've never had in my entire life. Not sleeping at all. Two, three hours a night. And I was losing my mind.

[28:19] Phil Bracco: But you know what's so funny? Like you just said about that other girl. Like, I think it has a lot to do with also personality. You're somebody who's so competitive. So you care, like you care and you care a lot when it comes to stuff like this. Whereas like somebody who isn't as competitive, like they're just having fun. Like you said, she's dancing, taking her time, like having a great time.

[28:40] Anjelica Conti: Yep. For you, I feel like it makes sense that this was really hard for you.

[28:45] Tommy Bracco: Oh yeah. Major. So you see, I just said he wasn't sleeping. That episode was two nights. It was two days, right? So after the first day I did not sleep, I had a problem going to sleep. You know, I got more sleep than he was getting, but I had a real difficult time going to sleep.

[29:01] Phil Bracco: The next day after I'm eliminated, I actually slept like a baby. But if I would have been continued, I think that would have gotten worse and worse and worse.

[29:10] Tommy Bracco: It did, which trust me, it does. And then I would, might've been panicking more.

[29:14] Phil Bracco: Oh yeah.

[29:15] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. Which is so weird because I feel like very similar to The Traitors where it was like up and down and up and down. It was breakfast. Then it was the challenge. Then it was the round table. Then it was after the round table. So it was very similar in the just like 16 hours of up and down and up and down. But I would get back to the hotel at night and I would be so exhausted. I would fall asleep in two seconds. Completely remove myself from the game as if I'm literally just staying in a hotel room. No problem. Pass out and then wake up when I needed to.

[29:45] Anjelica Conti: Like, I wish I could do that.

[29:47] Tommy Bracco: No, I was panicking.

[29:48] Phil Bracco: All right. Next question.

[29:49] Anjelica Conti: Okay. Um, what do you wish you knew before going into filming 99 To Beat?

[30:00] Tommy Bracco: You know why? Something that Cara Maria said in this episode really stuck out to me. She said, I've had to do a lot more for a lot less. I've had to jump across buildings for less money. At the end of the day, it is simple games for $1 million.

[30:17] Anjelica Conti: No, it's insane. It's insane. What a great opportunity.

[30:21] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. I wish that like, you know, going into this show, I just was excited to have a great opportunity with my dad. And I actually said that to them because they were asking me about the money and I go, to be honest with you, I did this to do something with my son. I go, the money's great. Then it went up, but I didn't know that coming.

[30:40] Phil Bracco: Right.

[30:41] Tommy Bracco: Like you said, I'm rich. I don't need this. I just want to have fun with my son.

[30:45] Phil Bracco: No. Well, here's what happened. So before going there, they told us that the prize was a hundred thousand dollars after taxes, that's nothing.

[30:54] Tommy Bracco: No, a hundred percent.

[30:55] Phil Bracco: 2025. I thought you were fucking with me literally when you told me it was a million dollars.

[30:59] Tommy Bracco: No. So the first day they revealed to us that like the prize is $1 million. And I thought it was a joke myself when they said that.

[31:08] Phil Bracco: No, I knew right away. Once they said that, I freaked out. It changed everything in that minute. Once they said that it went from a fun experience with my dad to, okay, no, no, no, buckle down. We need to do this. We need to win.

[31:21] Anjelica Conti: So, oh, so you're saying, do you, so you're saying you wish you knew that that was the prize before going into it? Would you have trained more or something?

[31:30] Tommy Bracco: Honestly, I would have trained more. I would have like, yeah. Like you guys are like laughing, throwing a potato in the kitchen. Like literally that you would have just been way more serious about it.

[31:38] Phil Bracco: He said, let's get the pasta out and we didn't do it.

[31:42] Anjelica Conti: Uh huh. Yep.

[31:43] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. Cause here's the thing we knew we were going, we knew the name of the show and the show existed in the UK. It actually existed in a bunch of countries. So we were watching versions of the show from other countries and they played this pasta challenge. So we were going to practice before going out to London. We were like, oh, we'll be fine.

[32:02] Phil Bracco: Well, yeah. When you have like, when you're talking about like $40,000, that's a lot different than like 600,000.

[32:10] Tommy Bracco: Seriously. So I wish that we like practiced a little more and like just went in a little bit more prepared for sure.

[32:17] Anjelica Conti: That makes sense. That's fair.

[32:18] Phil Bracco: Yeah. What about you? Do you wish there was anything you would do different?

[32:23] Tommy Bracco: Uh, I would, I would. Yeah. I wish I would've got the pasta on, on the spaghetti.

[32:28] Anjelica Conti: No, she said, wish it was something else. Something that you, like something you wish you knew before going on to the show or that you learned from being on the show.

[32:38] Phil Bracco: I learned from being on the show that, that it's a lot of fun and you get to meet real, like really great people. And I, I always thought I'd be standoffish, you know, cause I'm not friendly. Like thinking of putting yourself in any cast you're saying, like just a cast with people and strangers. I've, I've, I had an interview for another show once. And I said that I don't understand if there's a person on the show, that's one before and something else. Why would you want them on the show?

[33:07] Right.

[33:08] Phil Bracco: You'd want to get rid of them.

[33:09] Anjelica Conti: Right.

[33:10] Phil Bracco: No, no. Danny and Sandra were great people. Yep. We had Cara Maria. We had Miranda. We had a bunch of people. They didn't really show tonight. The girl from Ned's Declassified.

[33:22] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. They didn't show her.

[33:23] Phil Bracco: Yeah. She's still around. Like she's a literal actress, like on this show.

[33:28] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. She's arguably the most famous person on the show.

[33:32] Phil Bracco: It's crazy. So I got to know these people are real people and I got to know them. And if it was a vote out one, I wouldn't have voted them out.

[33:41] Anjelica Conti: It is cool because like these people come together from all different walks of life that you would never meet in your day to day or in your lifetime, if it wasn't for an experience like this. So yeah, it is a really cool concept.

[33:55] Phil Bracco: Yeah. It's true.

[33:57] Anjelica Conti: Um, did being on 99 To Beat change anything for you? Like personally, like confidence, perspective, what you want to do next?

[34:08] Phil Bracco: Uh, I feel actually, believe it or not, even though I lost, I feel more confident that I could do better the next time and also with what you were just saying, like putting yourself in certain social situations. Now, you know that you can handle it better.

[34:22] Anjelica Conti: Yeah.

[34:23] Phil Bracco: Yeah. I bet you thought for sure.

[34:26] Anjelica Conti: I think so. What about you, Thomas?

[34:29] Tommy Bracco: I have an answer, but I'm not, I don't want to say it yet. I want to wait. Cause I want to wait till you get to see my journey play out.

[34:38] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. I mean, I'm excited for the upcoming episodes. Now, how many?

[34:42] Phil Bracco: 10?

[34:43] Tommy Bracco: Yeah. 10 total episodes.

[34:45] Anjelica Conti: So that's exciting. Let me check the IMDB for 99 To Beat, is it just weekly until the 10 episodes are up?

[34:52] Phil Bracco: Yeah. Every Wednesday. So tonight they air, we're filming this on Sunday night. They aired a, an advanced premiere screening, um, on Fox. It's some strat. So basically they're just playing the premiere twice in one week. That's all it is.

[35:10] Anjelica Conti: And that's why I asked the question because I don't get that.

[35:12] Phil Bracco: So yeah, it's some kind of strategy. I don't understand it to be honest with you, but shows like Glee have done this for a bunch of popular shows, the strategy to see how it's going to go. So I don't know, but we get to watch early tonight. So that was fun. And now Wednesday we get to celebrate with our friends.

[35:29] Anjelica Conti: I'm so excited for Wednesday.

[35:31] Phil Bracco: Me too. So is the family also coming?

[35:33] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. And you really didn't think they were gonna.

[35:36] Phil Bracco: I know. I'm so excited.

[35:37] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. This is going to be fun. Pack it out. I don't know. What time is it? Like it starts at seven, right?

[35:41] Tommy Bracco: Yes. It starts at seven.

[35:46] Anjelica Conti: Nice. I'm excited.

[35:47] Phil Bracco: Oh, me too.

[35:48] Anjelica Conti: Any final thoughts, Uncle Phil?

[35:51] Phil Bracco: This was your big up. I want to thank Rachel Riley.

[35:55] Anjelica Conti: Oh, that's sweet.

[35:56] Phil Bracco: Yes. It's all because I, you know, it's funny. I texted her when we got back and I was like, I just have to tell you. You pitched me for that show and we got on and it was the best thing ever. Um, and she was, she like kind of gave me like a quick answer. I think that was like right before she left for the Big Brother game. So it makes total sense now. But I was like, like I wrote her this nice long message and she wrote back like something short and sweet and I was like, wait, Rachel, hello.

[36:25] Anjelica Conti: Yeah.

[36:25] Phil Bracco: It was, I don't, it might've even been Brendan.

[36:28] Anjelica Conti: That's hilarious.

[36:30] Phil Bracco: So funny.

[36:31] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. Crazy.

[36:33] Phil Bracco: All right. Um, so that's nice. Yeah. Thanks Rachel for letting me and my dad or giving us the opportunity to do this crazy thing together. It was so fun.

[36:41] Tommy Bracco: Any final thoughts from you, Thomas?

[36:44] Tommy Bracco: Um, yes, I don't even know. It's so weird because, you know, so much happens in a day when you do these shows, you know that, and I feel like my experience was almost like two different experiences. This one that I had with my dad, it was amazing. And it was like, it was perfect the way it was. And now I'm about to like embark on another experience, unfortunately without him. And it's like, I didn't expect that. Like I showed up to this thing thinking it was going to be the two of us. And I was crushed when he got out because I was like, oh, I came here to do this with him. I don't want to do this alone. So now I got to do it alone. I'm very grateful that I got to do it with him. And I, uh, this is something that we'll never forget for the rest of our lives.

[37:36] Phil Bracco: Yeah. Like maybe at his funeral, we can have like a video montage of his like moments like him in that split.

[37:43] Tommy Bracco: I honestly think about that. Like, I'm like, okay, when he's dead one day, I'll be able to be like, show my kids, like, look at me and your grandpa, like he'll be like, ass up, like Sports Illustrated. I'll take pictures of like Roman and my mom. And I'll be like, oh my God, I'm going to love this picture when she's dead. Like I literally think that's why we still do the podcast.

[38:00] Anjelica Conti: No, a hundred percent. You're going to have his voice forever.

[38:03] Phil Bracco: Yes.

[38:06] Anjelica Conti: Yeah. I wish I would've had this opportunity, like with my dad. What do you think he would say if he was watching this?

[38:11] Phil Bracco: Oh, he would be laughing his ass off.

[38:14] Anjelica Conti: Yeah, he would be bugged.

[38:16] Phil Bracco: He would love it.

[38:17] Anjelica Conti: Yeah, he would. He would be abusing you.

[38:20] Phil Bracco: Oh, of course.

[38:21] Anjelica Conti: Are your friends abusing you?

[38:22] Phil Bracco: My friends are really abusing me. Not too bad. Actually. I got a lot of positives.

[38:25] Anjelica Conti: Nice.

[38:26] Phil Bracco: You know, you're a natural. I got, hey, you know, reality star, what's up? Right. Things like that. Then I got, you know what? They say being on TV makes you look heavier. You look like you had 50 pounds more.

[38:42] Anjelica Conti: It does make you look heavier. You don't look like that in person.

[38:45] Phil Bracco: And then it was, I think Phil ate all the pasta.

[38:47] Anjelica Conti: No, I'm dead.

[38:51] Phil Bracco: So funny.

[38:52] Anjelica Conti: That is funny.

[38:53] Phil Bracco: But, um, you know, it was worthwhile. That's for sure. You know, I spent, you know, six, $700, $800 on things. I guess everyone's just got to keep watching to see if I win the million.

[39:04] Tommy Bracco: Yep.

[39:05] Phil Bracco: Yep. To see if you come through.

[39:08] Tommy Bracco: Anyway, it's been, uh, it's been real then.

[39:11] Phil Bracco: Right. It's been really real.

[39:12] Anjelica Conti: Yep.

[39:13] All: One, two, three. It's been real.