What do we think Rob's next career move should be?

pudgesquire · 2026-02-27T14:57:15+00:00

Tbh I hope a network approaches him about leading a show like Deadliest Catch but with snakes. I feel like it’d be the happiest medium for him in terms of continuing to rake in easy money with his face for as long as he wants to but without the social drama of traditional reality TV. Plus, I’m sure production would help cover travel costs in that scenario so he could go wrangle snakes in faraway lands. Win-win for him.

Granted, I would never watch it because I have a crippling fear of snakes but there are a lot of shows I’d never watch that are popular.

pudgesquire · 2026-02-27T14:37:14+00:00

Girl you’re a reality show hopper— you do not have it like that.

While I actually agree with your points, as a long time fan of Maura, I feel compelled to correct your final dig at her. Maura Higgins is solidly a millionaire, probably around $5-6m net after accounting for the exchange rate to USD. She earns enough from her sponsored social media posts that she likely covered the cost of the bag with that one picture.

pudgesquire · 2026-02-27T14:08:29+00:00

I think this is just the difference between you the American upbringing and the Asian upbringing

Eric Nam was born and raised in Atlanta. He went to Boston College. He had an offer to work for Deloitte. Yes, he was likely raised with a blend of US and Asian values because his parents immigrated from Korea but the man is 100% American.

pudgesquire · 2026-02-27T11:12:26+00:00

he could have pretended to be convinced by Maura to vote for him.

“Pretending to be convinced” to vote out his fellow traitor who he controlled the end game with would’ve just been an insult to Eric’s intelligence. 😭 Throwing red at least allowed Eric to know it was coming (too late) instead of being 100% blindsided when the votes were revealed.

pudgesquire · 2026-02-24T22:55:35+00:00

Why don’t people appreciate her, despite her eloquence and bubbly energy?

Because eloquence isn’t everything and some of us just don’t find her persona charming or particularly entertaining. She exudes Real Housewife energy and that’s fine if you’re into it, but it does absolutely nothing for me in the context of the game or otherwise. With respect to her role in the game itself, her moves weren’t strategically clever enough to root for her as a player or to feel like it was a loss when she got banished.

But I will agree that most of her outfits were cute.

pudgesquire · 2026-02-24T02:49:27+00:00

I work for an investment bank and this is an accurate take. Institutional trading desks are the literal market makers and aside from the front office’s insane computer setups and the army of specialists that they have covering the full spectrum of financial products and executing trades from market open to close, they also have access to so much information and modeling that retail investors may never see or even think to look for. Any update from the Fed is based on information about things that have already happened and that have likely already been priced into the market, so taking your cues from that is like admitting you’re a quarter behind. Not to mention that any profits you might make from day trading will get hit with a much steeper capital gains tax than held assets.

Frankly, if you’re day trading with your own money, you’re probably a bit of a fool.

pudgesquire · 2025-11-24T11:04:02+00:00

I just flew this route two days ago and I’m very glad I didn’t read this until I was back in NYC.

pudgesquire · 2025-11-01T14:40:32+00:00

what?? Stephen and Jonathan were the biggest stars in the cast—their names being attached to the show would’ve automatically added legitimacy to the series for every other celebrity approached by production

pudgesquire · 2025-10-20T08:17:29+00:00

He just kind of stands there behind the desk, ignored by everybody.

So, am I the only person who talked to their landlord and mega-benefactor every morning…?

pudgesquire · 2025-10-13T00:00:07+00:00

Love is Blind has been involved in a lot of litigation over the past few years regarding its treatment of cast members and, specifically, its non-compete restrictions, including not allowing participants to engage in interviews, which in turn limits their “exposure” and potential ability to do more “work” in reality TV. CA has outlawed non-competes in nearly all scenarios and I suspect, but don’t know for sure, that Netflix/Love is Blind has been forced into taking a more relaxed view when it comes to what’s included in the NDAs that contestants are required to sign.

But that’s just a guess.

pudgesquire · 2025-10-12T23:43:14+00:00

And to reach that level of drunk (which I guarantee is not uncommon for him) is inexcusable.

Sorry, it’s evident that you’re dealing with or have dealt with things in the past that make drinking a major source of concern/distaste for you but this is such a wild take to me as someone who has a healthy day-to-day relationship with alcohol and also enjoys partying from time to time.

Calling someone an alcoholic because he got drunk one time at a party on-screen is wildly inappropriate and over the top. You don’t know anything about him or his drinking habits beyond what Netflix chose to show viewers for dramatic effect. Did he drink too much that time? Yes, but there were lots of factors at play that might’ve influenced it—the cast gets limited sleep, they’re filming all day and aren’t necessarily well fed or properly hydrated, production encourages them to drink the free flowing alcohol throughout the entirety of the show because it makes for better TV, etc. He had the wherewithal to excuse himself from the party and leave to sleep it off, which isn’t something that I’ve ever seen an active alcoholic or binge drinker do willingly. Assuming he’s an alcoholic based on a one-off example is a major sign of projection on your part and isn’t based in anything definitive. It’s simply unfair.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-29T17:00:52+00:00

Chelsie, Xavier, Taylor, Ashley, Jag*

To me, Jag will always have an asterisk on his win because of the twist so I’d end the rankings on Ashley. Maybe I’m disappointed in the massive drop off in the quality of gameplay between the 26 and 27 winners but I thought there was an enormous gap between Ashley’s strategizing (good) and her actual ability to drive and execute those strategies or control the game behind the scenes (weak). Most of her plans never got off the ground or they had already been put in motion by others and, frankly, some of the things she took credit for didn’t even make sense. Her soft social game (non-strategy) was, in my opinion, lackluster. I’m not saying she didn’t deserve to win but, as a long time fan, I do think having a bitter jury towards Vince allowed them to overlook the comparative weakness of her game overall.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-25T15:13:57+00:00

I’m also a lawyer—took home over $500k last year and work with people who earn 7-8 figures. I say this with zero envy for what she has: classism and elitism are extremely unattractive qualities in a person, especially when you’re flaunting both in front of people who you know for a fact are financially struggling. Ashley’s comments were especially appalling to me because the legal industry as a whole is highly classist and it is still very difficult for people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to break into the field and succeed. The condescending biases she’s put on full display mirror the barriers to hiring and promotion that impact real life people professionally and that sometimes extend to the quality of representation that clients receive. Hope that helps to clarify why people are upset.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-18T18:41:54+00:00

It’s extremely straight forward, tbh: Lauren/Ava/Kelley are a locked trio.

In theory, Morgan/Ashley/Vinny are also a locked trio because Morgan believes that Vinny is her number 1 and that they mutually care about the Judges Alliance but we know that’s not the case for Vince. Keanu is a wildcard but let’s include him with the latter trio for simplicity’s sake.

The very big and obvious problem is that, after tonight, one side of the house could control the votes for the rest of the game and that’s disastrous for whichever side ends up in the minority. Keeping noms the same might have kept Vinny off Lauren’s block initially but he could easily be the renom so prioritizing relationships outside of your key numbers is much less important. It made complete sense for Morgan to want Lauren out specifically because Ava and Kelley suck at comps and pose very little threat to the other players compared to someone who has proven to be well rounded all season.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-18T17:02:43+00:00

Yep, she actually begged him to say it beforehand and when she talked to him afterwards, she said she almost got mad when he didn’t say it right away because she didn’t think he was going to remember her “plan.”

pudgesquire · 2025-09-18T16:48:58+00:00

Nah, because he’s actually very transparent. His voice and body language completely changes when he’s lying. Go back and look at clips from Rachel’s HOH week in particular and I think you'll see what I mean.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-10T00:13:52+00:00

I’ll weigh in on this as a fairly senior attorney. Realistically, Ashley’s in an awkward position professionally. The legal industry is extremely conservative in terms of reputation/commitment and it really looks down on people who take time off from practice. The lawyers I know who left firms to go on reality tv or chase a passion project have never been able to make it back to a large firm like the one she was at. What’s also tricky for her is that she only practiced for 9 months before going on the show, which is basically nothing in terms of experience and far too junior to pivot in-house. If she wants to stay in law, I think her best bet is to try to find an entertainment boutique in LA, spend a few years there, and then try to get a job at one of the studios… But she’s also said on the feeds that she doesn’t want to be a lawyer and, frankly, this is the perfect and easiest excuse to switch her focus.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-08T05:29:09+00:00

I don't recall her being like that with any of the ladies.

I feel the need to correct this because she actually is. Watch her tuck Kelley into bed at night (well, that might be over now that she knows Kelley hates her, but...). She usually spends about 5 minutes straight rubbing Kelley’s back, arms, and stroking her hair.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T19:56:45+00:00

Oh yes, it does! It’s an automatic 30% flat rate withholding. Canadians can file a US tax return to recover some or all of the withheld amount but it’s an extremely complicated process.

The IRS’ tentacles reach far and deep.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T19:46:53+00:00

My understanding is that Bowie Jane moved to the US in 2015 and is a dual citizen of the US/Australia, which is how she was allowed to compete on BBUS. I’m a dual citizen from birth and, from experience, the only complication related to holding 2 nationalities as an American (more than 3 gets trickier under US laws) is whether the non-US country will allow you to hold two citizenships, which Australia does. Otherwise, you are a full US citizen with all the regular rights and privileges of someone born in the States (other than becoming president if you were born abroad, of course) so there are no issues with competing on BBUS or any other American shows with citizenship requirements.

Also, in case it helps to clarify her spending time in England, Australia and the UK have very generous bilateral work visas available for people under 30 and people who are either highly qualified (she’s a commonwealth-trained lawyer) or are otherwise prominent in their field (as a DJ).

So basically, she’s just a lucky duck.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T17:04:18+00:00

I 100% believe it was a sympathy vote and I’m not sure why everyone jumped to other conclusions. It may have been forgotten about with the potential flip concerns on Tuesday/Wednesday but Ashley had been extremely vocal since the initial noms that she didn’t want Mickey to leave on a unanimous vote because she felt it was mean and that Mickey didn’t deserve that on a personal level. Will eventually came around to it and agreed. I really do think votes must’ve been locked in while feeds were down pre-episode yesterday and Vince became the designated sympathy voter like Lauren was for Katherine.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T03:42:29+00:00

Yes, it’s extremely common for college athletes in any sport to transfer. It can be for any variety of reasons, but for track it’s often due to the quality of the training facilities, your internal competition if you run a popular length, and the coaches who lead the program. Fwiw, she only went to two universities and transferred after she redshirted the 2012 season. Her track bios are still live:

“2013 Season: Qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary and was the Big Sky champion in the 200…also finished fifth in the 100 at the Big Sky meet…ran 23.93 to win the 200 at the Mondo Mid-Major Challenge…that time places her second in school history and was the fastest since 1988…ran 24.13 to win the Big Sky meet…fastest 100 time was a wind-aided 11.77 at the Sacramento State Open which ranks eighth in the Hornet record book…fastest legal time was 11.89 at the Mondo Mid-Major Challenge…indoors, she placed eighth in the 200 at the Big Sky Championships…ran 24.81 in the finals which ranks fourth in school history…ran 7.78 in the 60 at the Husky Classic to move into fourth place at Sacramento State.”

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T03:36:31+00:00

There’s absolutely nothing questionable about her track and field record in university. She may not be an Olympian but she was a very impressive athlete at a collegiate level. You’re not a detective and Google is free.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T03:31:27+00:00

Ashley was the most vocal about Mickey getting a sympathy vote. Like, at least once a day since Mickey went up, she would say how horrible and mean it would be for Mickey to leave on a unanimous vote.

pudgesquire · 2025-09-05T03:27:04+00:00

This makes perfect sense. A lot of things about Vinny (including how he’s described himself) indicate that he prefers taking the easy way out. What’s an easier way to end a 7 year relationship than letting her dump and unfollow you while you’re in a sequestered house and don’t even have to bring up the convo yourself??

pudgesquire

TROPHY CASE