PRESEASON CHAT | 99 TO BEAT

It is April 7th, 2026.

It's a Tuesday evening, and I will be leaving to play 99 to Beat.

on Friday.

And then the game will begin on Monday.

So in less than a week, I'm going to be competing.

on the biggest possible stage that I could have imagined, which is super exciting.

This is a dream of mine, to be honest.

I've been trying to get on reality TV for over a decade.

I originally was applying to Survivor and Big Brother, but in recent years, I started branching out and applying to shows like Squid Game, Fear Factor, Wonka, uh fallout 99 to beat i even applied for the bachelorette at one point uh just to get the practice and it sounds like i dodged a bullet on that one not that they would have cast me anyways But yeah, I guess I keep thinking about this as like a message to my friends and family before I go play 9992Beat.

But I guess the truth is, hopefully a lot of new people are watching too.

And you're kind of getting to know me for the first time.

So I would be glad to do an introduction.

My name is Michael O'Rear.

If things go as to plan, I'm going to be going by O'Rear on the show.

I'm going to go by that because typically in my life and work and friends and even family, I am surrounded by other Michaels.

So oftentimes people default to calling me by my last name, O'Rear, and it comes to be something that I prefer to be called.

So, you know, it's kind of more my name now.

The only people who call me Michael are my family, you know, and really close friends.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I'm going to go by O'Rear.

I think it's a little more iconic, too.

Just like Cochran wanted to go by his last name, I want to go by mine.