'Survivor' Alumni Michele Fitzgerald and Kellie Nalbandian Break Down Their Most Famous Moments in New Podcast

As Survivor approaches its 25th anniversary, podcasts have become an essential part of the viewing experience. In the past ten to fifteen years, we have seen a massive rise in audio and video shows talking about the veteran reality series, hosted by everyone from fans to former castaways like Rob Cesternino, Jonny Fairplay, and Tyson Apostol. Even host and executive producer Jeff Probst himself has gotten into the podcast game with the official aftershow "On Fire."

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Now, two fellow players are following in their footsteps in Michele Fitzgerald, winner of Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, finalist on Survivor: Winners at War, and current mainstay competitor on The Challenge, and Season 45 juror Kellie Nalbandian. But, as they explain in the opening episode of their new podcast "The Social Game," they are far from the typical Survivor podcast experience.

"If you are confused that we have a podcast, so are we," Michele quips in the first few minutes.

"Rob usually has a lot of strategy podcasts," she goes on to say about Cesternino's "Rob Has a Podcast" network, which has grown over the past 15 years to become one of the biggest media empires around reality TV. "He talks about dissecting games and why you made certain moves. And we are here to do none of that."

"There's so much strategy talk" adds Kellie. "And what RHAP needs is vibes. And that is what Michele and I can bring to the table."

Indeed, the mood of "The Social Game" is, fittingly, a social hour. Every week through the Survivor 48 premiere on Feb. 26, the duo will bring an episode of hilarious banter, games, and plenty of guests from the reality TV community. The tone of the show is loose and easygoing, as if everyone who listens is merely another person on the couch, getting to listen to two people who happened to be on the same beaches of Fiji entertainingly learn more about their guests–and each other.

Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 48

The latter gets draped into the background of the podcast incredibly quickly, as the pair reveal that that had only met mere months ago. As they recount the story, the two encountered each other at a screening of another CBS reality series, The Summit, in October. A number of tristate area alumni were in attendance, including Michele–who was tasked with hosting a Q&A after the screening–and Kellie. According to Michele, the two struck it up at the bar afterwards, having "similar interests in wine and alcohol." A few hours later, the location changed to a gay bar, and they came up with the idea to pitch Cesternino on a podcast covering the new mountaineering show. While he was unable to fill that request, he was able to put the gears in motion to bring "The Social Game" to life in 2025.

"So he gave us the gift of just being able to do whatever the f–k we want," Michele recounts, "And that is our plan."

Evidently, that plan includes some Survivor-adjacent games and topics, fortifying their "vibes" theming. For their first segment, the two took part in a popular celebrity game, discovering some of the top autocomplete results under their name from Google. Those results that spun off into many tangents that allowed the hosts to get more into their personal lives, both on-island and off. For example, for the first time in a while, Michele spoke about her win on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng  in 2016, something still seen as one of the most controversial final outcomes in the show's history. Funnily enough, her mentioning this topic also comes only a week after the finale of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras where Michele, in a bout of irony, had been called "robbed" by a wide swath of the fanbase due to an endgame twist knocking her out of second place.

"I will say what I've learned from reality TV in general is that, sometimes when you win, it feels like a loss, and sometimes when you lose, it feels like a win," she says. "It was, for me, the biggest moment of my life. I was 24 years old. I was so green, I really didn't even know what a confessional was. And I just went in and played my heart out, and I thought that the narrative would reflect that. But it was telling other people's stories. And so I felt like, when I watched it back, I was like, 'Oh my god, what am I doing here? Did I even deserve this?' And I and a lot of people didn't believe that I did. I was insecure about the win in general, and it's taken me a long process and a lot of therapy to learn that it doesn't matter what people say, I should be proud of that moment, but I didn't feel proud in the moment."

Related: Jeff Probst Launches First-Ever Official 'Survivor' Card Game

Kellie, meanwhile, relitigates her feelings behind her shocking blindside in Season 45, which prompted one of the most memorable exit lines in recent memory in, "What the hell, guys?" As she recounts, while the quote has become the biggest moment associated with her 16 days in the game, she had completely blacked out in the moment out of surprise, anger, and despair.

"I had to be told three or four days later," Kellie says. "We were signing a flag for something. And they were like, 'Let's write our little things.' And they were like, 'Oh, you have to write, What the hell guys?' I was like, 'What do you mean? No recollection." Michele sympathized, revealing that she has no memory of saying one of her most-quoted lines in Season 32, "Sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me."

Over the course of the podcast, the two women were able to find out more about each other, as commonalities emerged. Both, for example, were not aware at all of the deep well of online reality TV fandom when they had initially applied for the show. But they differentiate in a number of ways. One of the main ones exposed in the opening episode of "The Social Game": Michele has not watched Survivor since her time on Winners at War. That means she has not seen any of the "new era," including the season of her own cohost.

That revelation led Kellie and podcast producer (and fellow Survivor 45 contestant) Brandon Donlon to find an opportunity. The second half of the show consisted of Michele interviewing a number of people who claimed to be new era players. It would be up to her to determine whether or not they have played in a season that came after her time on the show. The segment was also a backdoor way to introduce the first guests of the podcast, in a rapid-fire panel that included Survivor 46 players Q Burdette and David Jelinsky, Survivor 45 first boot Hannah Rose, and Big Brother 25 houseguest Izzy Gleicher.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg for Michele, Kellie, and "The Social Game" in general. As the two teased at the end of the podcast, Season 45 winner Dee Valladares will be joining them next week, with more games, segments, and plenty of banter to follow. With a month and a half until the return of Survivor, this podcast is a new way for fans to get the show back on the brain, as two former castaways who hadn't met six months ago grow to become not only healthy co-hosts, but friends. "The Social Game," suffice it to say, does not sound like a bunch of malarkey to me.

Related: Jeff Probst Says 'Survivor' Final Four Firemaking Twist Came from a 'Hole in the Format'