0:00

Everybody,

0:08

what's going on? RHAP Sessernino, and we are back

0:11

here to kick off our coverage of tough

0:13

as nail season 4, and we will have

0:15

interview here with the host and the

0:17

creator of tough his nails, Phil

0:20

who will be joining here in just a moment.

0:22

Here with me to get ready to talk to Phil.

0:25

It is our chief. Amazing

0:27

race correspondent, and of course,

0:29

our one part of our

0:31

Tupper's nails panel Jess

0:33

Galees, Jess, how are you? Great,

0:35

Rob. I don't know. Is anybody ever truly ready

0:37

to talk to Bill? Nah. I'm sure

0:39

some people must be. Does

0:42

that work with him, you know, day in and day out?

0:45

I guess, III

0:47

never know what he's gonna what he's gonna

0:49

say next. Yeah. Of course, we

0:51

never know. But if you wanna see

0:54

what Phil has say also, you can check

0:56

out the video of this

0:58

interview, which should be up on our YouTube channel

1:00

by the time you are hearing this. Jess,

1:03

you, myself, Mike

1:05

Blum, we are about to get

1:07

back back in the damn van for

1:09

another season of tough

1:12

as nails. Are you ready? Yeah. There's

1:14

no crew more savage than this one. Yes.

1:16

It's time to go to work, everybody. Okay?

1:19

Below the work whistle. We're

1:22

ready. Can't

1:24

wait. Yeah. So we covered seasons

1:26

one and two in the real

1:28

time. Season three was airing

1:31

at the same time as survivor forty one.

1:33

So it was not an ideal time for

1:35

me to cover a Tupper's nails but

1:37

here we are back in a

1:39

survivor free time. So we are ready to

1:42

dive back in with weekly recaps

1:44

of Tupper's nails. So be on the

1:46

lookout for that once we get through

1:48

are two hour season premiere, which is

1:50

going to be on Wednesday night. For

1:53

that further ado, let's bring in our interview with

1:55

Phil. Alright. We're so excited anytime

1:57

we get a chance to talk to

1:59

the great Emmy Award winning

2:03

host of tough his nails.

2:05

He's back and so is the show.

2:07

Phil

2:08

Keoghan, Phil, how are you? I'm

2:11

wow. I forgot about your bell. That's

2:13

my first bell for twenty twenty three.

2:16

Me New Year. Happy new year

2:18

to you both. I was just saying it's been

2:20

so long since I've seen on

2:23

camera, I'm

2:25

loving this new look that you got going on

2:27

or maybe it's an old look that's just come back

2:29

into play. I don't know, but

2:32

the glasses, the headphones, the color,

2:34

the vibrance, the the yeah.

2:36

The whole thing. It's it's it's lovely

2:39

and rob. I feel sort

2:41

of under dressed, so to speak, with

2:43

my background, with you and your purple

2:46

prince tribute thing going Yeah.

2:49

It's never been described that way, Phil,

2:51

but that's a

2:54

a great note, of course. You're

2:57

usually in the in the workshop.

3:00

I am, but now

3:02

it's a stormy day down here in New Zealand.

3:05

And so I'm looking out on

3:07

a very angry ocean -- Mhmm. --

3:09

and and and braving

3:12

the storm down here. It's summer time, as

3:14

you know, down in New Zealand. And

3:16

yeah, we've had beautiful weather, and then all of a

3:18

sudden RHAP up yesterday,

3:21

and we've got a bit of a storm. Okay.

3:23

Alright. Well, Phil, we're very excited for

3:25

tough as nails to be back. Wednesday

3:27

night. And it's a

3:30

two hour premiere for

3:32

Tufus Nails. Phil, for

3:34

people who did

3:36

not check out the first three seasons

3:39

of Tufus Nails Could you give your

3:41

pitch for why people should check out season

3:43

four? Well, yes.

3:47

As you know, we we

3:49

do pay a lot of attention to celebrity.

3:52

We we're very interested in what salads

3:54

they're eating and who they're dating. And

3:57

every little nuance of their life,

3:59

which is There's plenty

4:01

of celebrity shows that celebrate

4:04

celebrities. But I

4:07

really feel that top of nails is

4:10

helping for all of us to maybe

4:12

pay a little attention to the

4:14

every person, the real people in real life

4:16

who are real tough, who keep

4:18

our country running, and they've done a

4:20

stellar job all the way through the

4:23

pandemic. And so

4:25

we have people from RHAP walks of life that the

4:27

best of the best in their chosen trades.

4:29

And they really are representative of

4:31

all of us, the most

4:33

people who see themselves.

4:36

There's see their their brothers, their sisters,

4:38

their uncles, their angst doing

4:41

the things that literally keep

4:43

the country ticking. So

4:45

it's it's about putting spotlight on

4:48

real people in real life who are real tough. It's

4:50

just a different group

4:52

of people that I feel need some

4:54

acknowledgement for for their

4:56

contribution to society.

4:59

Well, okay. And now I want you to talk

5:01

to the diehard fans

5:03

that didn't miss an episode of the first

5:05

three seasons. What are

5:07

you most excited about coming back?

5:10

Well,

5:11

as you know, the longer you get to do

5:13

something, hopefully, the better

5:15

you get at doing it, More

5:17

and more people found out about tough

5:19

as nails, not just in the

5:21

United States, but also around the world.

5:23

The the the the format and

5:25

the franchise of Thomas Nails has

5:28

continued to grow. It

5:30

was a top show in in

5:32

Denmark 4 instance. I

5:35

think something like thirty something percent up

5:37

in the time slot, the top show of the

5:39

week. There, the formats worked

5:41

in Denmark. It's now

5:43

about to launch in the Netherlands. It's

5:46

that the series is shot and then also

5:48

Belgium, Turkey is apparently meant to be

5:50

next. They're talking to Norway.

5:52

So it's it's about universal

5:54

themes. The people

5:56

who help us keep our lights

5:58

on and and the people who

6:00

make sure that things function on a day

6:02

to day basis. So to the die hard fans, I

6:04

would say, look, More people have

6:06

heard about the show and more people have applied. We've

6:08

got more people to choose from

6:10

in this cast. And

6:12

I expect it's gonna happen every Is

6:15

more competitive and

6:17

and and more diverse and and perhaps

6:20

more interesting to watch than

6:22

the one before. The idea is that you the

6:24

more people apply, the more choices

6:26

you have as producers to be able to

6:28

pick more and more interesting people. So

6:30

I love this group. We

6:33

we we shot this season. We started

6:35

this season out on Catalina Island.

6:37

Out of two havers. And

6:40

right from the beginning, you'll see that there's a real

6:42

sense of humor with this cast. Mhmm.

6:45

Some terrible dad dad jokes

6:47

this season we really ramped

6:49

up the dad's dad jokes, and

6:51

they're not just coming from me. So,

6:54

yeah, I I think anybody who's

6:56

loved to tough as nails over the

6:58

last few seasons is gonna love

7:01

this season because it has what

7:03

to me is at its

7:04

core, which is real heart and

7:07

real humor. We know there's always

7:09

gonna be some big characters on tough

7:11

as nails. Do you have any standouts 4

7:13

four coming in?

7:15

Yeah. I mean, you'll see it straight away.

7:18

One of my favorites is is is

7:20

Jake. He's pipeline worker.

7:22

Jake actually inspired

7:24

the badge of honors.

7:28

I was talking to Jake. Jake was gonna be on

7:30

season one and then for one reason or another, he

7:32

had an injury during broadcasting of

7:34

season one. He had a work commitment

7:37

for two. He had another challenge

7:39

with his schedule Preseason and

7:41

then we finally got him in season 4.

7:44

And when I was talking to him way back when,

7:47

that it must have been, well, gosh,

7:49

back in two thousand seventeen 4 we

7:51

even ramped up into season one,

7:53

he had just come in from work and he was sitting

7:55

talking to me and on his table,

7:58

he had his helmet. And

8:00

and I asked him about it, and and

8:02

he picked it RHAP. And he said, you see those film?

8:04

And he was pointing to the stickers on his

8:06

helmet. He said, you see

8:08

those stickers? Those are badges of

8:10

honor. Those represent the jobs that I

8:12

have been on. And if you were if you

8:14

work in the industry, you know

8:17

that that person had to really earn that

8:20

badge of honor because they were

8:22

in Montana working 4 months

8:24

on end away from their family getting

8:26

the job done. And so he's the

8:28

one that inspired that aspect

8:30

of tough as nails where as you know if you win

8:32

the team competition, you not only

8:34

get the twelve thousand dollars cash, but you

8:36

also get a a badge of honor.

8:38

And an honor and those types

8:40

of things are very, very important to

8:42

those people who work in those trades?

8:44

Howard Bauchner: So

8:47

we're leaning a lot this season. I've

8:49

seen about the first ten minutes of

8:51

the first episode. And I've

8:53

heard the I've heard the phrase, we keep

8:55

America running about six times in that

8:57

ten minutes. And I'm

9:00

really curious to know every

9:03

time I watch an episode of Tufsales, I think

9:05

about, oh, I didn't even think that about the

9:07

fact that somebody has to do this thing.

9:09

So are there any standout

9:12

challenges that you can tease us about?

9:14

Yes.

9:16

And and there's there's one that takes

9:19

place in a nursery.

9:21

And my dad actually makes an

9:23

appearance from New Zealand -- Oh, wow. -- I

9:25

pulled him up. And it just

9:27

so happened that on this particular

9:29

day, I don't know if you

9:31

remember that biblical storm we had a

9:33

couple years ago gosh, it would

9:35

have been no end of November roughly

9:37

of of twenty twenty one.

9:39

And we had this massive

9:42

storm in LA and floods,

9:45

flash floods, and it was epic.

9:48

And I remember I remember

9:50

I had a couple of people ask if we were

9:52

gonna be canceling the day because

9:54

it was raining. I

9:57

said, listen.

9:59

This is when people who are tough

10:01

as nails go to work, and we're

10:03

going to work. And I know you're used to

10:05

working in LA where it's beautiful and

10:07

sunny and shiny every day, but we're

10:09

making a show called tough as nails, not

10:11

soft as pillows, and we are going

10:13

to go to work. So we went to

10:15

work and and we literally shot

10:17

in this storm and

10:19

it was epic. I mean, it

10:21

was just so

10:23

different from anything else that we had done. They

10:25

had to pick up an order scattered

10:27

over this area that was the size of,

10:30

gosh, twenty football fields

10:32

-- Mhmm. -- or even bigger. It

10:34

was massive. A huge area, acres.

10:36

And pick up a a plant order

10:39

in this in the pouring rain. So

10:41

that's definitely one for me that

10:43

stands out. And and then you might see a few

10:45

guest appearances from some previous

10:48

telesales contestants. And

10:51

and one of them who might be a

10:53

favorite mechanic from season three,

10:55

and we might be putting together a

10:57

VA engine from

11:00

scratch and getting it

11:02

going. So, yeah, I I

11:04

think you're absolutely right, Jessica.

11:06

Part of what we're trying to do with tapas nails. And

11:09

there's no shortage of great

11:11

ideas, and we we saw that in

11:13

season five we just shot

11:16

finding new and different things, insightful things

11:18

that people have never even thought

11:20

of or heard of, you

11:22

know, going to a galvanizing

11:25

plant, for instance, galvanizing plant.

11:27

I mean, what the hell happens at a galvanizing

11:29

plant? So, yeah, every season it's

11:31

about trying to open people's eyes up.

11:34

To something new and different. But, of

11:36

course, out of it, we get incredible

11:38

competition and and great entertainment. Bill,

11:41

you've had to deal with so many different challenges

11:43

in terms of COVID over the

11:45

course of tough as nails.

11:47

And, you know, you've spent

11:50

time talking to us about all of the

11:52

different precautions that you've had to go through. By

11:54

the time you shot season 4, had

11:56

things opened up at all in terms of

11:58

how much COVID protocol you had

12:00

to do? No.

12:02

I I think I added it

12:04

up the other day along with amazing race.

12:06

I think I've done seven seasons now

12:08

with COVID protocols. You

12:10

know, I'm proud to say on top of

12:12

snails, we hadn't we we've had no

12:15

st stoppages or incidents with

12:17

COVID on the production, which

12:21

is a testament to the incredible

12:23

production team. That

12:25

runs it. But I it I

12:28

it it puts a string on

12:30

production. It is it is not being

12:32

easy. It's it's And not only is it not

12:34

easy, it's also incredibly expensive.

12:36

And it it

12:38

really is taxing. It's it's like

12:40

having another add on production to

12:42

your production because you've got your production, you

12:44

gotta worry about transporting people,

12:47

feeding people, keeping people safe,

12:50

running challenges, testing challenges. You've

12:52

got all of that to worry

12:53

about, keeping your cast happy,

12:55

and then there's this other

12:57

production.

12:58

You know, with other people and other

13:01

logistics. And you have to add

13:03

that on, and that's a big part of

13:05

your day. So I'm gonna

13:07

say, it has not been

13:09

easy. It was particularly difficult for

13:11

us in season two.

13:13

We got better at

13:15

dealing with it in three. And we've

13:17

got better in 4, but I'm not

13:19

gonna lie. It's just it's

13:21

it's really difficult. Yeah.

13:23

And Yeah. I hope

13:25

it goes away soon. You know, the the protocol

13:28

part of it, I I hope that

13:30

we're just at a point where it's

13:34

difficult because the

13:36

mandates are going, but then the consequences

13:38

are the same. So there isn't the same

13:40

sort of front end protection, but the

13:42

consequences of getting it are

13:44

the same. You you know, people get

13:46

kicked off production Well, they can't go to work.

13:48

And so we've had to deal with

13:50

that and I do

13:52

wanna say the cast and

13:54

the crew have been amazing

13:57

realizing the importance of protecting

13:59

people so that they have the chance to go all

14:01

the way through and to participate for

14:03

the win. The the

14:06

cast and crew have been extraordinary,

14:09

incredibly patient? I

14:11

mean speaking of things

14:14

you don't think about having to be

14:16

done. Because

14:19

I think it's I think it's great

14:21

to get the insight like this on a show like

14:23

this because the show is

14:25

about people doing tasks that you

14:27

might not think about twice. And

14:29

I think we've learned so much about

14:31

what goes into producing a TV

14:33

show in general. Just from talking to you

14:35

about all of this. And I

14:37

think it's

14:40

it it makes you watch all of the television

14:41

differently. Like I've I've

14:44

really enjoyed that aspect of

14:46

it. Well, I have to say

14:48

I really appreciated you guys taking

14:50

an interest in the show early

14:52

on and sold it to our team because

14:54

we were against, you know, we

14:56

were against the odds with to

14:58

start about RHAP We were working with less

15:00

resources than most reality

15:03

shows on network.

15:05

So it required a really a smaller

15:07

team doing a lot more, a lot of people wearing a

15:09

lot more hats in order to be able to make

15:11

it work And so

15:13

at at its at its core, it really

15:15

comes down to putting the right

15:17

people in the right

15:19

positions and people who that

15:21

who who really are, like, you we're I I

15:23

call them three for ones. Basically,

15:25

you can employ one and

15:27

that person so good at what they

15:29

do, but also so good at other

15:31

aspects of storytelling and making

15:33

television you're really getting

15:35

three people and they

15:37

turn up with passion and gusto. Never

15:39

complained. I mean,

15:41

one of my favorite moments on

15:43

this season Scott

15:45

Shelly, who's the DP, who

15:47

has been working with Louise and I now for

15:49

thirty years. We're in the middle

15:51

of the rainstorm. And

15:53

another one of our camera operators, Lucas, who

15:55

I've been working with for about twenty five

15:57

years. I see them

15:59

shooting and they're filming and in

16:01

the middle of this pouring rainstorm,

16:04

they had their own little moment

16:06

together, and they just reached

16:08

over and gave each other a high five in the

16:10

middle of this rainstorm, like and

16:14

they just, like, love this shit. You

16:16

know? It's like they the

16:18

the people that we have are so passionate

16:21

about the content that

16:23

we are making. There's nothing

16:25

better as a storyteller to know

16:27

that that what you're doing is

16:29

way bigger than you and it and

16:31

and they have their own investment

16:34

in the content. That you're not just

16:36

carrying the that whole thing by yourself,

16:39

that they are as invested as

16:41

you are, they are giving everything

16:43

they can to this, And at the end of

16:45

the day, to have people come up to you

16:47

and even, you know, editors

16:49

after they've cut their content and

16:51

say, this shit really matters to me. I

16:53

really love cutting this. I love these

16:55

people. I love these stories. Yeah,

16:58

of course, you want people,

17:00

as many people to watch the

17:02

show, and you want them to be able

17:04

to continue to make the show. But when you

17:06

hear that and you know

17:08

that they truly believe in the material

17:11

as much as you do. It's

17:13

incredibly satisfying because you just

17:15

realize this is

17:17

not about one person

17:19

or a few of us. This is about all of

17:21

us collectively coming together

17:23

to try to make something that's impactful that

17:25

makes people think and and that entertains and

17:28

where you walk away from watching this

17:30

season and you've fallen in love with these

17:32

characters and maybe you have a new

17:34

appreciation for your aunt, your uncle, your brother, your

17:36

sister, or somebody who has been getting

17:38

up at five o'clock in the morning for

17:40

thirty years to

17:42

go milk the cows or do whatever

17:44

their job is. So I

17:46

I just feel like sometimes you can

17:48

be involved in in con making

17:50

content that extends beyond just

17:53

putting a piece of television up

17:55

on the air on a

17:57

weekly

17:57

Phil, is there anything else about four

18:00

that you wanna make sure people know

18:02

before we head into the premiere coming

18:04

up on Wednesday

18:05

night? To

18:09

know. Well, I guess, III

18:12

was encouraged to start a TikTok. Oh,

18:15

no. No. III

18:18

think I'm approaching a hundred followers,

18:21

Rob. And but,

18:23

anyway, I was encouraged to start talk. But you

18:25

got a hundred and two once we get off

18:27

the call. Two. Okay. Wow. It's really

18:28

good.

18:28

I'll have to get a check talk. Yeah.

18:31

But I It actually

18:33

came from RHAP idea came from one of our

18:35

producers to get our cast to

18:37

do some DIYs. To

18:39

to actually show, like, some really helpful

18:42

DIYs -- Yeah. -- that

18:44

people could could use on a

18:46

daily basis. And

18:48

so we started putting them up

18:50

and and it it

18:52

you know, I'm getting more people

18:54

watching and looking at them on my Twitter

18:56

and Instagram account But I do have a a

18:59

TikTok account and

19:01

and and I would say that people

19:04

it's a fun way to see

19:06

if you fall in love with cast when you see them

19:08

and you wanna see them just relax

19:10

at home sharing an interesting

19:14

tip, handy tip, then check them

19:17

out. Okay.

19:19

Phil, thank you so much for making some time to

19:21

talk with us about the new We're very

19:23

excited that it's

19:24

back, and we can't wait to

19:27

see what you have up your sleeves.

19:29

Oh, yeah. It's it's good. And and

19:32

we're we're just about to

19:34

wrap the

19:34

post production on season five

19:37

and we we we we

19:40

shot that in a in a in a in

19:42

a outside of LA for the first time.

19:45

And I can assure

19:47

you That's also a next level. So there's some good things

19:49

to come if you if you're a top of nails

19:50

fan. Mhmm. Yeah. And if you're a Phil

19:53

Cogan fan, You've

19:55

really you've eaten over these last two

19:57

and a half years. I mean, really that

19:59

someone say that yeah. Someone say that RHAP

20:02

I mean, you've you've had to, like,

20:04

you know, carry this network. I mean, has there been more than

20:06

two weeks without a Phil Keoghan

20:09

show on CBS in the last two and a

20:11

half

20:11

years? Wow.

20:13

I I yeah. Wow. I'd be I'm

20:15

lucky to be working, aren't they? Yeah.

20:17

Yeah. You're still not on paramount. What's up

20:19

with that? I'm

20:22

still not on the mountain. I know, Jessica,

20:24

I I've just forgotten. And and

20:26

Jeff Corden's the world traveler still, I

20:28

guess. I don't know if he's still playing

20:30

that that promo by now. Yeah.

20:32

it yeah. I'm still gonna push

20:34

him off this could do it by seeing him out seeing

20:36

him out in the mountain.

20:39

Alright, Phil.

20:42

Thank you so much.

20:44

Okay? Okay. Yeah. Thank you,

20:47

guys. Bye. Alright. There you have

20:49

it. Phil Hogan. Just

20:51

fill in rare form once

20:52

again. I I don't think we can

20:55

call that rare form when it comes to Phil. He's

20:57

kind of always like RHAP. And

20:59

I appreciate it. I think his enthusiasm for this show

21:01

is so contagious. Mhmm. Yeah. It

21:03

really is nice to hear Phil talk about just

21:05

like how much that he is

21:08

like he enjoys so much,

21:10

like, getting to see people

21:13

work, like, at their craft and people,

21:15

like, like, you know,

21:17

really demonstrating just how much

21:19

passion they have for what they're

21:21

doing. And then, you know, he's also

21:23

the same way about making toughest

21:26

nails. So it is just

21:28

like a really nice to see

21:30

just like how seriously he takes

21:32

it. Yeah. He's very earnest

21:35

and it's very it's all very wholesome -- Yeah. --

21:37

enthusiasm for it. Okay. Well, we're very excited

21:39

to be back with tough as nails

21:41

recaps after this

21:43

season of