Yau-Man's Final Words
Feeling fortunate to have had a second chance at the game of Survivor, Yau-Man regretfully predicts the future downfall of his tribe torn apart by the constant squabbling.
"I was hoping I would last a little bit longer, but that's the way this game is. It's a very cruel game. I know I was a very big target coming into this by virtue of me doing so well in Fiji. Everybody's afraid I will have a repeat performance, but I thought I was making a great contribution in camp and doing well contributing to challenges, I would be at least safe. I think everything went well until Cirie looked at the end game and decided I was a big threat to her."
(cut)
"She then was quite sure that if I get a chance to go to EI I would definitely get the idol and that would be a big threat to her. No amount of me talking to her and convincing her I am with her as a very solid alliance like the way I was with Earl and so on to convince her otherwise and she ended up convincing a majority of the other people to vote me out. That's very unfortunate, but the last seven days have been a great experience. There are many people who want to get on Survivor once, where I've been on twice. I should consider myself lucky. I have no hard feelings. I had a great time. I wish I had been in there longer, but that's the way it goes."
(cut)
"The tribe is going to disintegrate. This was a very contentious Tribal Council. The tribe is certainly very divided now with Jonathan on one side and Cirie on the other side. They'll have to line up people behind them. They'll be very quarrelsome. There was Ozzy for example, made a plea for my staying during the discussion back at camp, saying there was no reason to vote me out. I guess Cirie had her way. I don't know how that's going to come out, but definitely the tribe is very very fragmented right now, and it may cost them at challenges being not a united tribe."
(cut)
"I think by doing what she did, Cirie put a target her on her back. She was certainly a rabble-rouser who fragmented the tribe or at least put all the dirty laundry out in the open and now everyone knows what is going on. She may be targeted next. The other possible target is Jonathan because Cirie happened to air his dirty laundry at the Tribal Council."
Tribal Council Votes
The Malakal tribe cast their votes, sending Yau-Man home early.
Amanda (Yau-Man with a sad face): I'm sorry. I think you're an awesome player. I really, really love your game. I have to go with my alliance on this one.
Ami (Cirie): I think you really stirred it up tonight, and the sad thing is you lied to me. Funny.
Jonathan (Parvati): I have nothing against you, Parvati, but I do believe that you are the weakest link. You have flirted with James shamelessly, your relationship with Ozzy, you've stirred up nothing but trouble, you do little around the camp. I think by following Cirie you have signed your own death warrant. She's led you like a sheep to the slaughter and played you like a fiddle. I'm sorry for you.
Parvati (Yau-Man): Just trying to keep my alliance and our tribe strong. Bye.
Yau-Man (Parvati): I'm voting for you because you're flirting too much with James. You're becoming a very tightly knit couple. I think the tribe is better off without that kind of coupling. Thank you.
Cirie (Yau): This game is about strategy, and you are aligned with the biggest liar in the game. I feel like strategically, this was the best move for me, so...(closes voted)
Ozzy ("Yau-Meister"): It was an honor to play with you, and I did everything I could to keep you in the game as long as possible. Sorry it didn't work out.
Eliza (Yau Man Chan): This is a really hard vote for me. I'm just doing this to keep myself in the game longer because I think it's a foregone conclusion you're leaving tonight. I wish it didn't have to be like this. I wish we were all gonna be here to the end. (I couldn't understand the last few words)
James (Yau-Man): This is probably the biggest mistake I ever made, but I have to keep my alliance strong.
Alexis After the Reward Challenge
(cut)
"Basically the challenge was some form of rugby/football in the water with 30-pound weight bags. It wasn't just that you were trying to get yours into the other team's end zone, you were trying to get your three and then on top of it somehow finagle your way into getting two of theirs as well, all at the same time, while once you were in the end zone it doesn't even mean you're safe because people are still nabbing them from you and trying to take them back across the line. Having five in the end zone was the overall goal. It was almost impossible."
(cut)
"I can only speak for myself. I felt like I gave it everything I had. I feel like the rest of the tribe members. We came back so haggard but I was proud of us. I felt it was anybody's game, and give any day, any team, either one of us would have own. It was very, very even, and they ended up pulling it out at the end. They deserved it, absolutely, but I was very proud of us."
(cut)
"We needed it so bad. We were playing for fishing gear, kitchen utensils and knives and plates, a tarp, which would have kept all our firewood completely dry in this unbelievably rainy location. We needed it bad. We needed all three of those bad. Just for morale alone, we needed this win, so it was frustrating and pretty devastating for Airai to lose today."
(cut)
"I think both teams got a beating, but we absolutely got a beating. Nothing worse than get a beating on top of going home completely empty-handed. It's one thing to get beat up and at least like win something, to at least get something for going home so haggard, but no, we just went home haggard and had to continue eating coconut and lime we've been eating for the past seven days."
(cut)
"It's interesting the conversation I had with Natalie just about the fact that I think we're too focused on Tribal Council and who's getting voted out and that side of the game than we are about the camraderie of trying to beat the other tribe out here. It's almost like we have more division and fighting in our own tribe and we should be using that energy against the other team. I think that's definitely we need to have a conversation about because whether we win or whether we lose, we still have those conversations. It shouldn't be about that. It should be about building ourselves up again so we don't go back to Tribal Council, not in preparation of going back to Tribal Council."
(cut)
"As soon as we got back, the first topic of conversation was 'Who are we voting out? Who are we voting out? Who is next to go?' and this was only a reward challenge and there's an immunity challenge tomorrow. I think we should be definitely be putting our energy into OK let's win tomorrow so we don't have to go to Tribal Council, so we don't have to sit here and have conversations about who's getting voted out next."
James on the Challenges
James recounts winning the Reward Challenege by relying heavily on intimidating his opponents before going in for the kill.
"The challenge today was definitely fun for me, because it was what I do best. Getting the ball, being aggressive, knocking people down, protecting others, going and pulling stuff out of people's hands. I did everything I do except thrown people out and bury them. I did what I could. When too many pillows went on one side I went and got them and brought them back to my side. I held them down when I needed to hold them down, then I figured out they weren't going to bother me anyway."
(cut)
"I did knock over a bunch of people, but I was supposed to knock them over. I don't get kudos for that, but it was fun. It was especially fun because after a while I had three bags and nobody would come over next to me. I felt like a stinky kid or a (censored) nobody likes. They really were not having it. The best was one time I ran up on them and was like, "STOP IT!" and they put their hands up. It was the best thing. They were like trained. It was fun. It was whatever. I swallowed a little bit of ocean water, but after a while they learned not to get in my way. I pretty much chilled, and knocked people down when other people got in trouble."
(cut)
"The win was very nice. The win felt good because not only did we get the win, we got a tarp, we got other tools. I was beating the hell out of the machete. Now we've got another machete. We got an axe. Something I can chop stuff with and just be crazy. A bunch of rope I'm untwining to make chicken traps and other kinds of traps. I'm just using the tools we've gotten to hopefully make everything more peaceful. Like I said the more food I catch, which - these people are so happy right now it doesn't even make a difference - but the more food I catch the more energy I'll have. I'll be able to work on Amanda cause she's still kind of weak. We've only been back a month, we're not at our best shape right now. Try to get Ozzy and a few of the other people who need to be strong, try to keep them well-rounded and strong with the most food and the most sustenance they can get right now."
"We got a shovel with the survival kit. Granted I'm a grave-digger and I know about shovels. It's a spade. It served its purpose but it ain't nothing like a good shovel. I'm good with shovels. It's helping me smooth out the bed and level the sleeping area. You had a bunch of humps and the princesses didn't want to sleep on the humps, so I just chopped it up a little bit and smoothed it out, then I graded over, made the sand level. The shovel's a nice thing. I could do a lot more with a shovel. My baby's still the axe, though. I love that thing."
(cut)
"It just wasn't our day today. They were really on fire. They kept sinking those coconuts. Our team kept trying with a strategy of underhand, and it wasn't working so much. It got to us. It was just hard to hold it. I don't know, it was just one of those things. A regular sports thing. Sometimes stuff's just not on your side. Today nothing was on our side. They were on fire. They were a little bit more hungry than we are. It's a little bit too nice over here, that's what I think it is. We're chilling, we have the cave, we're staying dry. They complain about the tarp. I mean, come on. Just the fact that they're wanting, they're out there in that rain, they're hungry, they're mad, they get to the competition mad and hungry. Heads up, we'd be able to beat them, but in certain challenges, when it's more want than athletic ability, they have the edge. They're struggling out there. They're hungry like animals right now. We're over here like dumb civilized people, upset about pebbles on our backs instead of getting up, moving the pebble, we're gonna sit there and cry about it. They had it today. It sucks. It sucks to lose. Now I have to go through all this Tribal Council stuff I don't like doing in the first place. People run up on me, people I haven't actually spoken to since we've been here, being nice and cool to me to figure out what the deal is. I'd rather avoid all that now, win, get stronger now, and deal with all that stuff during the merge. Right now we just gotta suck it up, get fired up or something. It sucks that I might have to do it, I hate doing that stuff, but I guess I will, cause we can't lose like this."
Yau-Man Secret Scene
Cirie: So what about you and Jonathan?
Yau-Man: We're not that close. I didn't make him any promises. Zero promises.
Yau-Man (solo): Right now it seems my head is on the chopping block. It looks like the swing vote might be Cirie. At first we thought she was with us, then we found out she's not quite, then she started to throw my name out there. She's felt more threatened by the fact that I made an alliance with Jonathan way before I made an alliance with her.
Yau-Man: At some point you know he's going to turn on me. I have to turn before he turns on me. He will turn on me. When I find out he's going to turn, I'll let you know, we're going in.
Cirie: OK.
Yau-Man: I work through.
Cirie: Alright.
Yau-Man (solo): This is really crazy. We're only on the seventh, eighth day and already one of our alliances is disintegrating and everything is stirred up.
Yau-Man the Day After
Yau-Man explains the difficulties of playing with other Favorites and how his reputation in Fiji, of being a 'Fan Favorite', may have been his undoing in the game.
"This time from the getgo I was mentally prepared for the lack of food, the hunger, getting wet all the time, sleeping in the rain. Mentally, it was easier."
(cut)
"All of us in the favorite tribe had experience. We know what to do, we know what to expect. We all know we have to work together to cooperate and each one have our tasks and pick up whatever needs to be done so we don't have to go through the learning process of hey what do we need to do now, and figure things out. Immediately when we got to island we knew right away we needed to make a shelter. We had a shelter plan in mind and we were OK you go get wood and I'll go find vines to tie it. Everyone was very cooperative."
(cut)
"The game suddenly started a lot earlier than I thought it would. Everybody expected by the first day that everybody would have an alliance. I guess I did not think we would start that fast. I have some loose alliances I considered but other people have already pretty much as soon as they saw each other they made up their mind about who they wanna go with and how they wanna play the game."
(cut)
"Playing with the favorites was a lot more difficult because of this alliance everyone decides they seem to think they know each other so well. Oh I liked the way you played, oh I know how you played, I'm gonna hang with you. That was almost immediate as soon as they saw each other and was able to talk to each other."
(cut)
"They think my reputation is if I form an alliance I will be very loyal to the alliance and I am very good at individual challenges and one we make it to the merge and I am on an individual challenge basis I will be very hard to beat. My reputation is also that I am quite a fan favorite and nobody would want to go up against me with the jury if there are any fan in the jury."
(cut)
"One of the fans made a big deal about how he thinks I am one of the best players, or someone said I was one of the most likeable players. I think that pretty much set me apart as a big target within my own tribe unless I am able to make a very firm alliance I know I am in trouble. Suddenly my favorite tribe was, 'A ha, I don't want to go up against him any further than I need to.' I could feel that. I was trying to talk to various of my favorite tribe but I don't think I got any traction with many of them.
I was surprised to see Jonny Fairplay being on the same tribe as me. I was very surprised to see Jonathan Penner. Having watched their seasons I could see how they would be favorites, but I wouldn't call them favorites. I think they were the people who did the most damage to their tribes and maybe got the most viewer involvement whether being good or being bad but certainly being popular for their season.
"I did not know Cirie very well. I have been trying to get to know her a little bit. That sort of backfired because I have not approached her until probably the second day. She felt she has been slighted. Jonathan came to me the first day when we were building the shelter and said hey we're the old guys here, why don't we get together at least initially. I thought that's a good idea. Certainly I did not have the confidence in him that I had in Earl in my season. By the time Cirie joined up with us she felt she'd been slighted because I didn't approach her on day one and she never got the trust I had with Earl."
(cut)
"The favorites who have played this game before, they definitely have the experience and have more, firmer mindset as to how they want to play the game. They probably have in mind what strategy they have in mind to succeed and go far and they will certainly be less flexible. They have their mind made how they want to play this game, so someone who doesn't agree with them, it's a lot more difficult to persuade. It's I've played this game before, this is how it got me far, I'm going to do it this way again."
(cut)
"Playing Survivor is fun, even though I got voted out so early, its still quite a fun experience. To get a second chance at it, yeah, I didn't make full use of that, I didn't step it up a few notches to play a second time, but yeah, it's been fun."
Feeling fortunate to have had a second chance at the game of Survivor, Yau-Man regretfully predicts the future downfall of his tribe torn apart by the constant squabbling.
"I was hoping I would last a little bit longer, but that's the way this game is. It's a very cruel game. I know I was a very big target coming into this by virtue of me doing so well in Fiji. Everybody's afraid I will have a repeat performance, but I thought I was making a great contribution in camp and doing well contributing to challenges, I would be at least safe. I think everything went well until Cirie looked at the end game and decided I was a big threat to her."
(cut)
"She then was quite sure that if I get a chance to go to EI I would definitely get the idol and that would be a big threat to her. No amount of me talking to her and convincing her I am with her as a very solid alliance like the way I was with Earl and so on to convince her otherwise and she ended up convincing a majority of the other people to vote me out. That's very unfortunate, but the last seven days have been a great experience. There are many people who want to get on Survivor once, where I've been on twice. I should consider myself lucky. I have no hard feelings. I had a great time. I wish I had been in there longer, but that's the way it goes."
(cut)
"The tribe is going to disintegrate. This was a very contentious Tribal Council. The tribe is certainly very divided now with Jonathan on one side and Cirie on the other side. They'll have to line up people behind them. They'll be very quarrelsome. There was Ozzy for example, made a plea for my staying during the discussion back at camp, saying there was no reason to vote me out. I guess Cirie had her way. I don't know how that's going to come out, but definitely the tribe is very very fragmented right now, and it may cost them at challenges being not a united tribe."
(cut)
"I think by doing what she did, Cirie put a target her on her back. She was certainly a rabble-rouser who fragmented the tribe or at least put all the dirty laundry out in the open and now everyone knows what is going on. She may be targeted next. The other possible target is Jonathan because Cirie happened to air his dirty laundry at the Tribal Council."
Tribal Council Votes
The Malakal tribe cast their votes, sending Yau-Man home early.
Amanda (Yau-Man with a sad face): I'm sorry. I think you're an awesome player. I really, really love your game. I have to go with my alliance on this one.
Ami (Cirie): I think you really stirred it up tonight, and the sad thing is you lied to me. Funny.
Jonathan (Parvati): I have nothing against you, Parvati, but I do believe that you are the weakest link. You have flirted with James shamelessly, your relationship with Ozzy, you've stirred up nothing but trouble, you do little around the camp. I think by following Cirie you have signed your own death warrant. She's led you like a sheep to the slaughter and played you like a fiddle. I'm sorry for you.
Parvati (Yau-Man): Just trying to keep my alliance and our tribe strong. Bye.
Yau-Man (Parvati): I'm voting for you because you're flirting too much with James. You're becoming a very tightly knit couple. I think the tribe is better off without that kind of coupling. Thank you.
Cirie (Yau): This game is about strategy, and you are aligned with the biggest liar in the game. I feel like strategically, this was the best move for me, so...(closes voted)
Ozzy ("Yau-Meister"): It was an honor to play with you, and I did everything I could to keep you in the game as long as possible. Sorry it didn't work out.
Eliza (Yau Man Chan): This is a really hard vote for me. I'm just doing this to keep myself in the game longer because I think it's a foregone conclusion you're leaving tonight. I wish it didn't have to be like this. I wish we were all gonna be here to the end. (I couldn't understand the last few words)
James (Yau-Man): This is probably the biggest mistake I ever made, but I have to keep my alliance strong.
Alexis After the Reward Challenge
Alexis describes the feeling of defeat and the toll it takes on the tribe coming home empty-handed.
"The reward challenge was hands down the hardest, most physical combat I've ever...it was insane."(cut)
"Basically the challenge was some form of rugby/football in the water with 30-pound weight bags. It wasn't just that you were trying to get yours into the other team's end zone, you were trying to get your three and then on top of it somehow finagle your way into getting two of theirs as well, all at the same time, while once you were in the end zone it doesn't even mean you're safe because people are still nabbing them from you and trying to take them back across the line. Having five in the end zone was the overall goal. It was almost impossible."
(cut)
"I can only speak for myself. I felt like I gave it everything I had. I feel like the rest of the tribe members. We came back so haggard but I was proud of us. I felt it was anybody's game, and give any day, any team, either one of us would have own. It was very, very even, and they ended up pulling it out at the end. They deserved it, absolutely, but I was very proud of us."
(cut)
"We needed it so bad. We were playing for fishing gear, kitchen utensils and knives and plates, a tarp, which would have kept all our firewood completely dry in this unbelievably rainy location. We needed it bad. We needed all three of those bad. Just for morale alone, we needed this win, so it was frustrating and pretty devastating for Airai to lose today."
(cut)
"I think both teams got a beating, but we absolutely got a beating. Nothing worse than get a beating on top of going home completely empty-handed. It's one thing to get beat up and at least like win something, to at least get something for going home so haggard, but no, we just went home haggard and had to continue eating coconut and lime we've been eating for the past seven days."
(cut)
"It's interesting the conversation I had with Natalie just about the fact that I think we're too focused on Tribal Council and who's getting voted out and that side of the game than we are about the camraderie of trying to beat the other tribe out here. It's almost like we have more division and fighting in our own tribe and we should be using that energy against the other team. I think that's definitely we need to have a conversation about because whether we win or whether we lose, we still have those conversations. It shouldn't be about that. It should be about building ourselves up again so we don't go back to Tribal Council, not in preparation of going back to Tribal Council."
(cut)
"As soon as we got back, the first topic of conversation was 'Who are we voting out? Who are we voting out? Who is next to go?' and this was only a reward challenge and there's an immunity challenge tomorrow. I think we should be definitely be putting our energy into OK let's win tomorrow so we don't have to go to Tribal Council, so we don't have to sit here and have conversations about who's getting voted out next."
James on the Challenges
James recounts winning the Reward Challenege by relying heavily on intimidating his opponents before going in for the kill.
"The challenge today was definitely fun for me, because it was what I do best. Getting the ball, being aggressive, knocking people down, protecting others, going and pulling stuff out of people's hands. I did everything I do except thrown people out and bury them. I did what I could. When too many pillows went on one side I went and got them and brought them back to my side. I held them down when I needed to hold them down, then I figured out they weren't going to bother me anyway."
(cut)
"I did knock over a bunch of people, but I was supposed to knock them over. I don't get kudos for that, but it was fun. It was especially fun because after a while I had three bags and nobody would come over next to me. I felt like a stinky kid or a (censored) nobody likes. They really were not having it. The best was one time I ran up on them and was like, "STOP IT!" and they put their hands up. It was the best thing. They were like trained. It was fun. It was whatever. I swallowed a little bit of ocean water, but after a while they learned not to get in my way. I pretty much chilled, and knocked people down when other people got in trouble."
(cut)
"The win was very nice. The win felt good because not only did we get the win, we got a tarp, we got other tools. I was beating the hell out of the machete. Now we've got another machete. We got an axe. Something I can chop stuff with and just be crazy. A bunch of rope I'm untwining to make chicken traps and other kinds of traps. I'm just using the tools we've gotten to hopefully make everything more peaceful. Like I said the more food I catch, which - these people are so happy right now it doesn't even make a difference - but the more food I catch the more energy I'll have. I'll be able to work on Amanda cause she's still kind of weak. We've only been back a month, we're not at our best shape right now. Try to get Ozzy and a few of the other people who need to be strong, try to keep them well-rounded and strong with the most food and the most sustenance they can get right now."
"We got a shovel with the survival kit. Granted I'm a grave-digger and I know about shovels. It's a spade. It served its purpose but it ain't nothing like a good shovel. I'm good with shovels. It's helping me smooth out the bed and level the sleeping area. You had a bunch of humps and the princesses didn't want to sleep on the humps, so I just chopped it up a little bit and smoothed it out, then I graded over, made the sand level. The shovel's a nice thing. I could do a lot more with a shovel. My baby's still the axe, though. I love that thing."
(cut)
"It just wasn't our day today. They were really on fire. They kept sinking those coconuts. Our team kept trying with a strategy of underhand, and it wasn't working so much. It got to us. It was just hard to hold it. I don't know, it was just one of those things. A regular sports thing. Sometimes stuff's just not on your side. Today nothing was on our side. They were on fire. They were a little bit more hungry than we are. It's a little bit too nice over here, that's what I think it is. We're chilling, we have the cave, we're staying dry. They complain about the tarp. I mean, come on. Just the fact that they're wanting, they're out there in that rain, they're hungry, they're mad, they get to the competition mad and hungry. Heads up, we'd be able to beat them, but in certain challenges, when it's more want than athletic ability, they have the edge. They're struggling out there. They're hungry like animals right now. We're over here like dumb civilized people, upset about pebbles on our backs instead of getting up, moving the pebble, we're gonna sit there and cry about it. They had it today. It sucks. It sucks to lose. Now I have to go through all this Tribal Council stuff I don't like doing in the first place. People run up on me, people I haven't actually spoken to since we've been here, being nice and cool to me to figure out what the deal is. I'd rather avoid all that now, win, get stronger now, and deal with all that stuff during the merge. Right now we just gotta suck it up, get fired up or something. It sucks that I might have to do it, I hate doing that stuff, but I guess I will, cause we can't lose like this."
Yau-Man Secret Scene
After realizing his neck was on the line, Yau-Man confronts Cirie, in an attempt to bring her back into their alliance and save himself from the vote.
Yau-Man (to Cirie): I do not share this information with anybody. They do not know this conversation at all. If I get the idol, I will share. And I won't vote for you. We can go a long way.Cirie: So what about you and Jonathan?
Yau-Man: We're not that close. I didn't make him any promises. Zero promises.
Yau-Man (solo): Right now it seems my head is on the chopping block. It looks like the swing vote might be Cirie. At first we thought she was with us, then we found out she's not quite, then she started to throw my name out there. She's felt more threatened by the fact that I made an alliance with Jonathan way before I made an alliance with her.
Yau-Man: At some point you know he's going to turn on me. I have to turn before he turns on me. He will turn on me. When I find out he's going to turn, I'll let you know, we're going in.
Cirie: OK.
Yau-Man: I work through.
Cirie: Alright.
Yau-Man (solo): This is really crazy. We're only on the seventh, eighth day and already one of our alliances is disintegrating and everything is stirred up.
Yau-Man the Day After
Yau-Man explains the difficulties of playing with other Favorites and how his reputation in Fiji, of being a 'Fan Favorite', may have been his undoing in the game.
"This time from the getgo I was mentally prepared for the lack of food, the hunger, getting wet all the time, sleeping in the rain. Mentally, it was easier."
(cut)
"All of us in the favorite tribe had experience. We know what to do, we know what to expect. We all know we have to work together to cooperate and each one have our tasks and pick up whatever needs to be done so we don't have to go through the learning process of hey what do we need to do now, and figure things out. Immediately when we got to island we knew right away we needed to make a shelter. We had a shelter plan in mind and we were OK you go get wood and I'll go find vines to tie it. Everyone was very cooperative."
(cut)
"The game suddenly started a lot earlier than I thought it would. Everybody expected by the first day that everybody would have an alliance. I guess I did not think we would start that fast. I have some loose alliances I considered but other people have already pretty much as soon as they saw each other they made up their mind about who they wanna go with and how they wanna play the game."
(cut)
"Playing with the favorites was a lot more difficult because of this alliance everyone decides they seem to think they know each other so well. Oh I liked the way you played, oh I know how you played, I'm gonna hang with you. That was almost immediate as soon as they saw each other and was able to talk to each other."
(cut)
"They think my reputation is if I form an alliance I will be very loyal to the alliance and I am very good at individual challenges and one we make it to the merge and I am on an individual challenge basis I will be very hard to beat. My reputation is also that I am quite a fan favorite and nobody would want to go up against me with the jury if there are any fan in the jury."
(cut)
"One of the fans made a big deal about how he thinks I am one of the best players, or someone said I was one of the most likeable players. I think that pretty much set me apart as a big target within my own tribe unless I am able to make a very firm alliance I know I am in trouble. Suddenly my favorite tribe was, 'A ha, I don't want to go up against him any further than I need to.' I could feel that. I was trying to talk to various of my favorite tribe but I don't think I got any traction with many of them.
I was surprised to see Jonny Fairplay being on the same tribe as me. I was very surprised to see Jonathan Penner. Having watched their seasons I could see how they would be favorites, but I wouldn't call them favorites. I think they were the people who did the most damage to their tribes and maybe got the most viewer involvement whether being good or being bad but certainly being popular for their season.
"I did not know Cirie very well. I have been trying to get to know her a little bit. That sort of backfired because I have not approached her until probably the second day. She felt she has been slighted. Jonathan came to me the first day when we were building the shelter and said hey we're the old guys here, why don't we get together at least initially. I thought that's a good idea. Certainly I did not have the confidence in him that I had in Earl in my season. By the time Cirie joined up with us she felt she'd been slighted because I didn't approach her on day one and she never got the trust I had with Earl."
(cut)
"The favorites who have played this game before, they definitely have the experience and have more, firmer mindset as to how they want to play the game. They probably have in mind what strategy they have in mind to succeed and go far and they will certainly be less flexible. They have their mind made how they want to play this game, so someone who doesn't agree with them, it's a lot more difficult to persuade. It's I've played this game before, this is how it got me far, I'm going to do it this way again."
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"Playing Survivor is fun, even though I got voted out so early, its still quite a fun experience. To get a second chance at it, yeah, I didn't make full use of that, I didn't step it up a few notches to play a second time, but yeah, it's been fun."
