ok heres what i meant by this (i was tired when i wrote it)

i have this email #1 and the backup email for it is email #2 (which i have no access to at all, it’s not even mine)

the only way to login to email #1 is by getting a backup code from email #2

i happened to have email #1 logged into the youtube app on an old ipad

i added google authenticator as a recovery method and logged in

i then removed email #2 and added an email i have access to

this is why i was so happy