Survivor: Gabon

NSFW - XXX

Spoiler:

OH, a "Show-er"...but is he a "Grow-er?"
I think they photo-shopped that from one of my old promo pics.

:shocked:

At last! The secrets of ‘Survivor’ revealed
Is show real? Can they bring tampons? Why so many models and actors?

COMMENTARY
By Andy Dehnart
msnbc.com contributor
updated 9:01 a.m. CT, Tues., Oct. 7, 2008
Fans of reality TV shows are known for becoming obsessive about their favorite series, and that's absolutely the case for "Survivor." Reality show fans want behind-the-scenes information in part due to curiosity about a show they spend hours watching every season, but also because they're sometimes skeptical about how real these shows actually are.

Here are answers to the most commonly asked questions about the realities of "Survivor. " These answers are based upon my week-long visit to the Western Africa set of "Survivor Gabon." Other seasons filmed in other locations may have slightly different answers, in part because the production changes and evolves, but also because different geographic locations can require slightly different approaches.

Is "Survivor" real?
Yes. Are there parts of the production we don't see on TV, however? Absolutely. Besides having to condense the show from thousands of hours of footage into 13 episodes, a lot is required to produce a TV show. For example, when you watch a challenge, you won't see 75 producers and crew members filming, recording audio, taking notes, and watching the challenge unfold. But based upon my observations, none of what doesn't make it on TV actually affects the game. What you see on TV is nearly always exactly as it happens.

Why does the show cast models or actors or people who've never seen the show?
Because they don't receive enough quality applications. Lynne Spillman, who's in charge of casting for "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race," has said in interviews that the show regularly receives tens of thousands of applications, but most aren't from what the show considers to be good candidates. Thus, the show recruits, often models or actors (dubbed "mactors")although those people still go through the casting process. That's become more common recently; everyone except one person on "Survivor Fiji" was recruited, and while that may give us unmemorable mactors, recruiting has also given us unlikely but popular contestants such as Yau-Man Chan.

Can Survivor cast members bring or wear whatever they want?
No. While cast members bring their own clothes to the location, producers select what they take to camp, ensuring that the cast will be wearing camera-friendly colors. Among those prohibited items include shirts or caps with corporate logos. Selecting clothing also allows producers to make sure not everyone will be wearing, say, green T-shirts. They're also searched to ensure that cast members are not smuggling food, matches, or other items to camp with them or in their belongings.
The show used to regularly feature each contestant's “luxury item,” such as Colby’s large Texas flag that actually helped serve as shelter in the “Outback” season. While the items haven't been featured on the show during recent seasons, cast members do bring comfort or luxury items with them to the location, and the producers do approve those items — and decide whether or not to distribute them sometime during the game (if at all).

What do contestants do all day?
Not much. Periodically, on-site producers pull cast members away from the group to do their confessional interviews. And, of course, the contestants go to challenges on two out of every three days. But beyond that, it's up for them to amuse themselves, whether that means foraging for food, strategizing, or just sitting around and talking.

Do Survivor cast members get personal hygiene items?
Yes and no. They have access to a container with necessary supplies, such as feminine products, birth control, vital medications, contact lens solution, sunscreen, and insect repellent. Otherwise, they're on their own. Contestants don't get razors, toothbrushes, or other conveniences, so if they have bright white teeth or aren't growing body hair, it may be because of tooth whitening or laser hair removal they had done before they left for the show.

Where does the crew live and work?
Living arrangements depend upon the location, and ranges from tents to actual hotels. In Gabon, base camp was a two-hour boat ride from the country's only major city, Libreville. A large part of base camp consisted of a large, temporary tent city, where everyone from producers to host Jeff Probst were living until their prefabricated cabins — which included bathroom facilities — could be assembled nearby. The crew works out of trailers or cargo containers that double as offices, and some offices are prefabricated and assembled on site. Everyone except contestants eats their meals in a large catering tent, which opens as early as 4 a.m. for those who need to be on location first thing.

Are the cast members ever alone?
No. Producers and camera operators stay at their camps all day and all night — in part to make sure they don't miss footage, but also to ensure the cast's safety. They work nearby in off-limits, camouflaged areas known as camera camps, where there are cots, food, and equipment storage. Those camps are very primitive when compared to base camp, however, and tribe camp crews work different shifts, so they return to base camp and are not always living out of the camera camps. At Exile Island (called just Exile in Gabon), a producer with a camera stays with the exiled cast member.

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Survivor Secrets Revealed

The Associated Press: Supreme Court rejects ‘Survivor’ winner’s appeal
October 15th, 2008
The Associated Press: Supreme Court rejects ‘Survivor’ winner’s appeal By ERIC TUCKER



PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Richard Hatch’s appeal of his conviction for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the debut season of “Survivor.”

Hatch, 47, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison after his 2006 conviction for tax evasion in federal court in Providence. He is scheduled to be released in October 2009.

Hatch’s appeal was already denied by a federal appeals court in Boston and was among more than a thousand rejected last week by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court did not explain its reasoning.

“He’s disappointed with the decision,” Hatch’s attorney, Michael Minns, said Wednesday. “He’s been worried about his family and taking care of them the entire time.”

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island, which prosecuted Hatch, did not comment Wednesday.

Hatch, of Newport, argued in his appeal that a judge improperly barred him from raising allegations of cheating during the taping of the hit CBS show and from explaining why he believed the producers would pay his taxes for him.

During the trial, Minns told U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres outside the jury’s presence that Hatch had caught show employees smuggling food to other contestants during taping in Borneo in 2000. He said a producer promised him his taxes would be paid if he kept quiet and went on to win the competition, a claim CBS has strongly denied.

Besides his “Survivor” winnings, Hatch also was convicted of evading taxes on $327,000 he earned as co-host of a Boston radio show and $28,000 in rent on property he owed.

He was acquitted of seven bank, mail and wire fraud charges that related to his charity, Horizon Bound, an outdoors program he planned to open for troubled youth.

you know I always thought that Richard Hatch's prison sentence was too harsh. I have seen alot worse, get alot less. Was he wrong? Of course he was.....over 4 years in jail wrong? I don't think so. JMO

GC Bows Out Of Survivor
Oct 18, 2008 12:06 AM ET by Rhoda Charles


On the first day of Survivor: Gabon, Danny "GC" Brown, 26, of Portland, Ore., won his tribe's first individual immunity idol. He made a to-the-end alliance with Kenny Hoang and soon after was anointed tribe leader. With such a track record you'd think he would make it to the end, but heavy lays the crown. Lack of food, lack of sleep and a few confrontations over rice left GC ready to call it a day. Brown talked with TVGuide.com Friday about the hardships of Survivor and the pressures of leadership that led to his departure.

TV Guide.com: You started off pretty strong by winning the first individual immunity idol on your tribe and then being chosen tribe leader, but you seemed to lose your way. What broke you down?

Danny "GC" Brown: After I was voted the leader, things got a little hectic around camp. I was chosen and four other people tried to take the leadership role at that point. It was strange because now I was like, "why would you guys pick me for the leader if you guys really want to be the leader yourselves?" I felt that we didn’t need one and I didn't really want to be the leader because it just put a target on my back. When I did try to ask anyone to do anything it was like they didn’t want to listen to me. I felt like I was just being set up to fail.

TV Guide.com: Jeff [Probst] was pretty persistent at tribal council in urging your team to pull together and choose a leader. What did you think about his "coaching" at that point?

Brown: If he wouldn't have mentioned it, then I wouldn’t have been picked to be leader or the issue wouldn't even have been brought up. That would have been great for me because I could have stayed in the background and shown people that I am a helper around camp and lead by example.

TV Guide.com: What about your performance in some of the challenges? From what we saw it looked like you kind of gave up a little bit.

Brown: I gave up in one challenge for a second to catch my breath. That was the one where we had to dig in the hole. I was just thirsty and hot and exhausted. I took a break and I do feel bad because we lost that challenge and if I would have tried a little bit harder maybe we would have won. You know, that's life; you make mistakes sometimes. As far as other challenges go, I definitely performed a lot better than the world probably believes I did, but that's TV and that’s fine with me. At least I know what really happened and I'm okay with it.

TV Guide.com: Where did you disappear to before the immunity challenge?

Brown: [Laughs] Oh, I just went fishing and was trying to bring some food back so we could eat before the challenge because we hadn't eaten anything but rice and grasshoppers. I didn’t know it was that close to the challenge, but when I started hearing them calling I knew I was in trouble and I needed to get back there real quick.

TV Guide.com: Did you enjoy your time on the show?

Brown: Yes, I did, but it was hard and I didn't enjoy the way I played it. I made a lot of mistakes. I should have been a lot more calm and held my tongue more. That's one thing about me; I like to speak my mind. I feel like if someone can tell me how they're feeling about something then I should be able to do the same. Unfortunately, it didn't look too good on TV.

Danny ‘G.C.’ Brown Sent Home Survivor: Gabon
October 17, 2008


Even the awe-inspiring sight of an elephant across the water from their camp couldn’t rally the Fang tribe to victory. In their fourth trip to tribal council, the red team sent a weary and dissolute 26-year-old G.C. Brown home to Portland. Ore.

Here’s what led to G.C. all but begging to leave the game:

Elephant in the Room: At bountiful Kota, Bob brings back fish to the tribe (freshly caught in their reward-challenge nets) and ends up shocking the group, literally, with an electric fish. At rice-poor Fang, the tribe’s spirits are momentarily uplifted by the sight of an elephant ripping down trees and eating grass across the water from the camp. Ace and Matty hop into a canoe for a closer look. Matty says seeing the elephant “makes you appreciate life.”

The Fruits of Labor: For reward, tribes must toss fruit over two obstacles to members who must catch the fruit and dump it in a basket. In their way, two opposing team members holding bats defend their baskets by swatting at the lobbed fruit. After five minutes, the team with the most fruit in the basket by weight wins an herb garden, oil and salt, and the collected fruit.

For once, it seems that Fang is getting the hang of winning a challenge. The high-tossing combination of Matty to Ken lands plenty of fruit into Fang’s basket while Ace, defending Fang’s first obstacle, is having an easy time batting away Kota’s throws. And then the inevitable — Kota strategizes that it’s best to toss two big pieces of fruit each time, thus definitely having one bypass Ace on every turn. Whaddaya know — it works! Kota wins the challenge with 18 pounds of collected fruit against Fang’s 16 pounds. With the victory, Kota sends Sugar back to Exile for a third time! When Jeff Probst asks why, Dan explains that by this time, she probably has found the hidden immunity idol and they hope to flush it out before the merge. Sugar responds with a simple, “Whatever.”

Tale of Two Tribes: Fired up with winning and food, Dan announces to Kota that he wants them to unify and stick to unanimous votes before and after the merge. Marcus isn’t sure he can trust Dan. Randy, meanwhile, is just happy to be on a tribe that appreciates him, even if it might only be up to a point. At Fang, however, G.C. despairs while Crystal berates. Ace watches the fighting from afar and is pleased to see implosion. “It’s a bunch of insanity,” says Matty of the disorganized tribe. As if proving the point, G.C. disappears right before Fang has to leave for the immunity challenge. While Matty, Ken and Kelly yell for G.C., Ace and Crystal scowl at the wasted effort. When G.C. finally emerges, Kelly tells him they were five minutes from leaving without him. G.C. shrugs and says, “That would have been cool with me.”

Play Ball: At the top of a steep slope, a thrower sends a large wooden sphere down a course where the object is to get the ball into a goal pen. Meanwhile, a defender from another tribe holds a shield and tries to stop the ball from going through. The defender, however, is blindfolded, and depends on a teammate to direct him to the other team’s ball to block it. Both teams really end up scoring by default in this sloppy challenge but the best part was when, during the last round and behind by one point, Kota caller Randy tells opposing defender Ace to “freeze,” which he does instead of listening to his own caller, Sugar! So again, Kota wins immunity.

G.C. Go Home: Before meeting up with Jeff, all eyes turn toward G.C., who has been moping around camp about how the game has changed him and he doesn’t want to be there anymore. However, just when the vote seems obvious, Ace and Sugar go off to swim and the other tribe members get a hunch to look through Sugar’s bag for the immunity idol. Crystal finds it and quickly they start thinking that this would be the only chance they have to blindside Sugar if they vote for her. At council, Sugar cries when G.C. talks about wanting not to suffer any more. She also reveals that she is fine with people checking her bag for the idol and she’s surprised no one has point-blank asked her if she has the idol or not. Despite these bold proclamations, the vote goes as expected and the majority of the tribe kick out G.C. – Cynthia Wang

'Survivor: Gabon': The Lame Game
An elephant sighting riles up the Fang tribe, but nothing can distract from G.C.'s poor gameplay


OH, DANNY BOY Try as he might...oh, who are we kidding? He didn't really try to win the game
Monty Brinton/CBS


By Dalton Ross
Dalton Ross is an editor-at-large at EW and swears there are better pictures of him out there...somewhere.Osten is pissed. I mean really pissed. He's heard the talk. He knows the word on the street. And he doesn't like it. All this chatter about G.C. being the lamest Survivor contestant ever — well, Osten from the Pearl Islands season doesn't want to hear it. He called me up last night to explain.

Osten "What the hell? I mean, seriously, what the f---ing hell? Why is everyone ready to crown this clown the worst ever?"

Dalton "Well, Osten, I mean...he was pretty damn bad."

O "Oh, please. I was much worse. Much, much worse. No way is this punk taking my title."

D "I can't really argue with you, Osten. You were horrible on many levels."

O "Yes! Yes, I was! Exactly! Now, that's what I'm talking about!"

D "But G.C. was so versatile in his uselessness, and I'm sorry, Osten, but you simply have to respect that."

O "Respect nothing! Did the dude show up as big as a house, mock the less physically imposing members of his tribe, and then fold like a cheap suit? My lameness far surpasses his."

D "Look, I hear ya. But there was just something special about G.C. Something about the way he simply stopped competing in challenges. Something about the way he accepted the role of leader, and then simply refused to lead. Something about the way he argued about rice with every member of his own tribe. Something about the way he went AWOL in his kayak before an immunity challenge and then, upon being informed that his tribe almost left without him, responded by saying, 'That would have been cool with me.' And finally, there's just something about that goofy-ass nickname. These are facts, Osten. You simply can't deny the facts."

O "But he didn't quit! I quit, he didn't. End of story."

D "He totally quit."

O "Then why didn't that big meanie, Jeff Probst, make him say the words 'I quit' and humiliate him the way he did me by throwing his torch down at tribal council? Riddle me that, Ross!"

D "Because Probst has gotten a little gun-shy since he was accused of pushing Janu to quit in Palau. Not to mention the fact that you opened the floodgates to quitters, so producers are now content to let people simply ask their tribemates to vote them off instead of having every other tribal council become one big Quitters Row."

O "See, you just said it yourself! I'm the pioneer when it comes to quitting. They're all just swiping my hype!"

D "You know what, Osten? You're right. You are the lamest. But look, I have a column to write. Can I go now?"

Actually, Osten had already hung up, since he is not exactly one to see things through to the end. But he did convince me that he is, in fact, lamer than G.C. Just not by much. I talked with G.C. before the game started (although I insisted on calling him Danny), and he was a totally nice guy. A young guy still searching for himself, to be sure, and a guy who didn't strike me as particularly interesting or engaging, but he was pleasant enough. I do remember thinking to myself, damn, this dude needs a Jolt cola or something. The excitement and energy didn't seem to be there. I'm not exactly sure how the hell he made it through casting.

NEXT: Ricegate 2008


I was at that first tribal council, and the back and forth between Probst and the original Fang went on much, much longer than what you saw on the screen as the host pushed and prodded the tribe to get it together and pick a leader. No one wanted to step up. G.C. finally did by default, and I very distinctly remember thinking, This is a really, really bad idea. It was clear he didn't want it, and clear no one was really gonna respect his leadership anyway. Truthfully, it's hard to respect pretty much anything about G.C. in this game. A few weeks back I compared G.C. to that crappy Eddie Murphy movie Golden Child and said that at that point G.C. was actually playing worse than that movie and was performing more at a Pluto Nash or Norbit level. You know what? I'm now taking him down another notch! Are you crazy, Dalton? There's no level below Pluto Nash! That's as far down as you can go! Au contraire, mon frère. Dare I say it, but G.C. has now sunk to "Party All the Time"-level Eddie Murphy. "Party All the Time" is a most apt comparison because Eddie Murphy actually expected us to take him seriously singing that god-awful song, as did G.C. in this game, but it was simply impossible to do so on either count.

All right, not everything in this latest episode revolved around G.C. (thankfully). The episode began with Ace and Ken arguing over the rice, with Ace advocating that they save some for Sugar, who he believed had not eaten in 3 days, and Ken advocating for Ace to shut his possibly-phony-British-accent-spouting face. Ace then kindly informed us that "I've got Sugar in my pocket," which may or may not have been a euphemism for his penis. Meanwhile, the members of Kota were busy repeatedly touching a fish that sent electric shocks through their hands. This couldn't help but remind me of The Simpsons episode where Lisa ran a test to see if her brother was dumber than a hamster, and Bart kept touching the cupcake rigged to shock him, long after the hamster had moved on. But I don't blame the Kota crowd. Fact is, it gets pretty boring out there — anything for a jolt. Too bad that fish was the most shocking thing we've seen so far this season....Get it? Shocking? The fish? Okay, never mind.

NEXT: The call of the wild


Fang, however, had more seriously threatening animals to deal with — specifically, an elephant. I have to say, seeing elephants out there in the wild is a pretty intense experience. Trying to get the most nature bang for their buck, Matty and Ace took the boat out to get a closer look. In a truly shocking development, G.C. told them to "leave the elephant alone" because he was scared the beast would charge. I don't blame him. Had the beast charged — and this would have been quite a feat in itself considering he was separated from them by a large body of water — G.C. would have probably decided to run away, gotten tired and decided it wasn't worth the effort, argued with the elephant about the rice, and then allowed himself to get trampled.

Matty, on the other hand, appreciated the gesture and the opportunity to "step out of the game for a second" — although I'm not quite sure homeboy has yet to step in the game. (Side note on Matty: Every season there is one person who the press interviews that we think is a total bore, yet Probst says, "Really? We love that person." Sometimes, that person turns out to be okay. Other times, they turn out to be Danielle from Panama, who was snooze city. None of us were really high on Matty. He seemed like a totally agreeable fellow, but also appeared homesick and over his head without a lot to offer. Plus, his answers to our questions simply weren't very interesting. Then again the questions probably weren't very interesting either. Anyway, Probst has insisted that Matty would prove to be a fan favorite this season. We'll see.)

So it's off to the reward challenge we go, where contestants must throw fruit through holes — and past opposing tribe members attempting to whack the food down — and into a bucket. The challenge started with — again, shocker! — G.C. sucking by repeatedly throwing the fruit right into Bob's stick. Meanwhile, Randy was making like Terrell Owens, dropping down to the ground to make a catch. (Actually, maybe I'm being too kind — T.O. definitely would have dropped it. That's right! Suck it, Cowboy fans!!!) But the highlight of the event was clearly Ace getting popped in the face with a watermelon. Contrary to a lot of you posters, I actually really, really like Ace. Is he cocky? Sure. But he backs it up with his performance and is a totally engaging character. I love watching Ace on the show and I love the way his head is constantly in the game. Plus, he makes fantastic goofy-ass faces at tribal council — always a good thing. I'm very pro-Ace. Sue me.

NEXT: Sugar gets no love



Kota won — again — causing Charlie and Marcus to engage in another passionate embrace (I'm thinking at least one of them may have had Sugar in their pocket as well, if you know what I'm sayin'). Speaking of Sugar, Kota sent her to Exile (non) Island yet again. It was a decision that Nick Lachey described as "No strategy — purely comedy." (He'll be here all week, ladies and gentlemen...unless, of course, you know, he gets voted off.)

So, off Sugar went to Exile to munch on pineapple. I totally get why producers did the comfort or clue choice thing this season, and maybe it will pay dramatic dividends down the road, but I am really not into seeing people enjoying themselves when sent to Exile. It's supposed to be a miserable place! In past seasons, sure, you would maybe find the idol, but you'd suffer in the process. And if you already had the idol, then you were just gonna suffer. It may make me an awful person, but I want to see the misery, not lounging in a hammock eating fruit and talking about how wonderful everything is. These people are playing for a million dollars, dammit — don't make life so ridiculously easy for them!

Over at Fang, Crystal and G.C. (him, again?) were arguing over — you guessed it — rice. Seriously, I have never seen a group of people bicker so much over food since John Belushi did his zit impersonation in Animal House. What happened to good ol' fashioned Survivor disagreements over who backstabbed whom and who's not doing enough work around camp? Freakin' Fang — even their arguments are lame. I'm gonna start printing "Free Ace!" T-shirts if this keeps up, because I am seriously sympathizing with that guy right now.

Upset over ricegate and, well, everything else that had happened over the past two weeks, G.C. informed us that "this game is changing me, and it's not for the better." Jesus, I hope not! Because if this is for the better, then I hate to see what pre-Gabon G.C. was like. Dude, I've already downgraded you to "Party All the Time" level. There's not much further down I can go. G.C. took his personal pity party out on the water. One problem: It was time for the immunity challenge. (Actually, maybe that's not so much of a problem, considering the way he's been performing.) His tribemates yelled out his name repeatedly to try to find him until he finally appeared, rowing in slow motion back to the dock. Kelly informed him that they were about to leave without him, to which G.C. — and folks, it doesn't get any more G.C. than this — responded, "That would have been cool with me," a comment that surely made Osten cringe that he was about to lose his coveted Lamest Survivor Ever crown.

NEXT: The blind leading the blind



Going into the challenge, Matty rated his tribe's chances of victory as "slim," and that was a kind assessment. The competition involved rolling big balls down a hill while a blindfolded member of the opposite tribe tried to block them with a shield by following directions barked out by a fellow tribe member. Fang started off in trouble when caller Sugar made the curious strategic decision to offer no guidance whatsoever, leading to this precious exchange:

Ace: "I can't see anything. You have to talk. What's happening?"

Sugar: "Nothing's happening."

Ace: "No, not right this second, I can hear that."

Not quite as great as "I hit my head back there." "I don't care." "I know." But close enough. Of course, Dan allowed Fang to creep their way back into it by stopping his own ball. (How Dan is that?) Then Ace's face was the recipient of another blow. Look, I want to make sure I'm perfectly clear on this count: I love watching people get brutalized in challenges. As far as I'm concerned, the closer it is to a mash-up of Jackass, America's Funniest Home Videos, and a brutal Japanese game show, the better. But this one kinda scared me. Getting stabbed near the eye (as opposed to hit with a watermelon) is frightening stuff. Not to imply it didn't make good TV; I just didn't rewatch it eight times in slo-mo like you would normally expect. (Who knows? Maybe I'm getting soft. Like G.C.) Of course, Fang eventually blew it, with Randy making the genius call to bark out conflicting orders to Ace to momentarily freeze the facially unfortunate one. We should note, however, that if you took a look at the wide angle shot, there was no way Ace would have gotten to the ball anyway, but still, props to Randy. For a guy that prides himself on being so unlikable, Randy has become pretty hard not to dig on screen. He's performing in challenges, playing strategically, and giving choice sound bites. What more can you ask for from the man? Except, maybe, for him to get rid of that awful tropical vomit shirt.

So the question at Fang became, who to get rid of — quitter boy G.C. or hidden-immunity-idol holder Sugar? The term "hidden immunity idol" has become something of a misnomer, because as we've learned (A) It is hidden really, really poorly and (B) you can't hide it in your bag. I actually really don't like this second rule. I think contestants should not be allowed to look in each other's stuff. Sure, Sugar could hide it at camp somewhere instead, but what if they mix up the tribes again and it gets left there? If they want to truly keep the does-she-or-doesn't-she element in play, producers need to stop letting people snoop in other people's stuff.

NEXT: Kota talks strategy in a deleted scene


At tribal council, G.C. told us all about what a hard life he's had, and I don't doubt him for a second, but that doesn't mean he wasn't being a quitter. And I do think Probst should have ended the charade right then and there instead of letting it go to a vote. I guess producers feel the fraud of a phony vote is more dramatic than having someone out and out quit, yet I still maintain it would have been more dramatic to see G.C.'s torch thrown down than sit through another by-the-book early ouster by a meaningless vote because the person in question had already pulled a Fairplay and told everyone to send him home. I realize I'm one of the few dorks that actually care about the "integrity of the game," but it's that integrity that separates Survivor from all those other D-list reality shows. And not to belabor this point any more, but don't you think if that threat of public humiliation exists, it may actually cut down on the number of people willing to throw in the towel for fear of being made to look like a doofus on national television? Just a thought.

You know who else has some thoughts—Jeff Probst! See what he has to say about G.C. in his weekly EW.com Survivor blog. Looking for a little bonus strategy session that you didn't see on TV? Then be sure to watch our exclusive Survivor deleted scene, in which a celebratory Kota decides over bananas what Fang player they'd like to bring over to their side after the merge. Who they discuss may surprise you. Check it out below. And then be sure to get your post on. Will Fang ever win again? Is G.C. lamer than Osten? And what fruit would you want to be whacked in the face with? Let us know. The store is open for business, people.

Jeff Probst blogs 'Survivor: Gabon' (episode 5)
Oct 17, 2008, 07:44 AM | by Jeff Probst


Let's start this week's blog by going backwards to last week's episode. A lot of people shared with me that they thought getting rid of Jacquie made absolutely no sense and that Kelly should have been the one voted out. Shows what I know. Maybe Jacquie was more entertaining than I gave her credit for! My bad.

Okay, it's time for one final column focusing on G.C. When G.C. disappeared before the challenge it was slightly annoying. He really did leave. Just took off. We were at the challenge and received word from the producers that the tribe was out looking for G.C. We told them that if he wasn't there when it was time to leave their camp for the challenge, they should just leave him behind. Secretly I was praying that would happen. You long for those "fresh" moments when something happens that has never happened before. I'm not really sure if G.C. was playing games with his tribe or not. It seems unlikely that he forgot there was a challenge, but to give him the benefit of the doubt...maybe that's what happened. Either way, he made it back in time, and I hope he feels at least a little bad about returning too soon and thereby robbing the show of a potential great moment.

Does anyone else love moments like the catching of an "electric fish"? Sure, it won't impact the game and will never come up at tribal council, but it always reminds me of the authenticity of Survivor. I think sometimes we forget to tell that part of the story since so much of Survivor is based solely on strategy.

(I should probably point out that, as I write this, I just got home from a day of working and I'm really hungry. So, if I have an edge or if my thoughts drift, blame lack of food.)

Question: Why do Survivors continue to leave the idol in their bag? This makes no sense. There are millions, yes millions of spots you could bury or hide the idol. This one really confuses me. Survivor is not the time to test the trustworthiness of people. Sugar, hide the damn thing. You go to all that work to find it and then you give its power away by letting everybody know you have it. I suppose you leave your wallet in your unlocked car too. Actually I do that too, so whatever. You get my point.

Okay, so…the highlight of the episode, IMO, (yep, using text speak. DWI) was when the Fang tribe came face to face with an elephant. It was a Spielberg moment. Wide-eyed Survivors staring across the lake at a beautiful wild elephant. Keep in mind, this isn't a zoo. It's not even somewhere like Kenya where the animals are used to safari groups. Gabon is remote. This was a big damn deal.


When this happened, I was back at base camp monitoring the reality channel on our walkie talkies. I heard the producer come on in a whispered tone: "We have an elephant sighting. Survivors getting in boat to investigate. Great stuff. Dramatic."

You need to understand that we get more excited than anybody when something like this happens. This is why you go all the way to Gabon, in the hopes of a moment like this that is so good you know it will be in the show even before you take it home to edit.

Our camera and audio teams covered it beautifully and when Ace and Matty decided to get in the boat, it turned a home run into a grandslam. So happy we caught it all in HD!

Oh, yeah, G.C. got voted out.

"I’m Goofy and Funny” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Gabon’s Kelly
by David Bloomberg -- 10/24/2008


Kelly did not exactly receive a positive portrayal on the show, from a variety of standpoints. And David doesn’t shy away from asking her all about it – from her comments that made her look not so bright to her challenge performances. What does Kelly have to say about all of that? How about the comment about GC being eaten by a monkey And what does she really think about Ace and Crystal. Kelly tells all, right here!

Kelly has been a polarizing figure on this season of Survivor. Ace attacked her intelligence in her final Tribal Council; Jacquie did likewise when she talked to me a couple weeks ago; and Crystal wasn’t very happy with her either. As you’ll see, I asked Kelly about all of this and much more, and she gave some pretty blunt assessments back. Read on!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Kelly, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline! Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Kelly: My strategy coming in was something that was different – once I got into the game, it was completely out of whack. It was to make an alliance with somebody. And when I made an alliance with that person, that person would make an alliance with another person and I would make another alliance with somebody. Kind of like the onion alliance. I wanted to then grab somebody who’s kind of like an outcast but you could trust them.

RNO: You mentioned it got out of whack – how did your strategy change once the game was underway?

Kelly: Being the youngest one, I just sat there was watching everybody. They were all so into themselves, nobody had a sense of humor, they were all playing for a million dollars. The way everybody was handling themselves, I didn’t know what to do. I went with Paloma. I talked to Ace and he wanted to get into an alliance, but I saw through him, so I just laid low. It helped me out in the end.

RNO: How did it help you?

Kelly: After I switched, being the least valuable player, which was so stupid because I was physically a better athlete than Sugar and even Corinne. They [Fang] saw through that and picked me and knew I would align with them. That’s what helped me.

RNO: Once you got to Fang, you managed to convince GC, Ken, and Crystal to bring you into an alliance and vote out Jacquie, which was a good strategic move. But then those allies turned on you rather than making a follow-up strategic move and targeting Ace. What happened?

Kelly: The thing that happened, thank God I called them out on getting Jacquie out, because she was a dud with no personality. Crystal thought I called her weak and wouldn’t talk to me. Ken told me Ace said I called her weak. You’d think Crystal would have some teamwork and come up to me since I’m on your side I’m helping you guys, you guys are going to get picked off as soon as I leave. Ace was trying to save his own ass by lying and saying I called Crystal weak. He was scared.

RNO: On the show, you were not portrayed as being the sharpest knife in the drawer, and it was apparent that some of your tribemates felt that way as well, such as Ace with his comment at Tribal Council. What do you have to say to that?

Kelly: You know what, Ace is so fake. It’s really sad actually. He had to reinvent himself from Kota to Fang. He was a leader in Kota and laid low in Fang. Everybody was so uptight and nobody had a sense of humor. I don’t think before I speak and I’m goofy and funny. Ace couldn’t get out of his fakeness and played his own game the slimy way. Good luck getting anywhere.

RNO: So is that what we saw from you – that you sometimes don’t think before speaking and you’re goofy?

Kelly: It’s not that. I’m myself, I speak what’s on my mind. If it gets me in trouble, it gets me in trouble. Get a laugh, let’s have a good time. Ace was just trying to save his own ass, so he would do anything to make me feel stupid anytime. He’s condescending, he’s an arrogant @$$#ole!

RNO: One of your comments that got a lot of play was the one about how monkeys might have eaten GC. What would you like to tell us about that?

Kelly: That’s very funny. There goes Kelly, that’s me, I’m goofy, I’m funny. What I probably meant to say – and I think I did after that – was he probably got eaten by a gorilla. We go to Survivor school and they told us what to do if a monkey or a gorilla comes around. He was gone for 20 minutes and we couldn’t find him. I made a joke about it. I say silly things. I thought that was hilarious.

RNO: We saw several people debating whether to vote off you or Ace, but we didn’t really see you discussing the vote. What did you do that we didn’t see to try to ensure that you stuck around?

Kelly: The whole day, nobody would really talk to me besides Matty, Ken, and Ace. Ace would walk with me and pretend that I called Crystal weak, but we clearly saw him say Crystal was weak. We also saw him say she was playing GC and quitting.

It was really weird how it came about. I was talking with everybody and seeing how things were going. Crystal thought I called her weak and that was the reason. Ace told Ken that I wanted to get Ken off, but Ace was being a con artist. It was Ace, Sugar, Kelly, Ace, Sugar, Kelly – which one? And then it was me.

RNO: In your final words, you said if it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. Do you think there was anything you could have done to change things up so it wasn’t your time to go?

Kelly: I definitely think there were things I could have done. I really wish Crystal would have come to talk to me and not made an assumption. You’re a grown woman, you’re a huge girl, you think you can’t come up to this little blonde chick to save your own ass? I learned a lot from this experience, I learned about myself – a million dollars comes and goes; I’ll make my own money.

RNO: Did you suspect you would be leaving before you got to Tribal Council?

Kelly: I kind of knew – I had a feeling. Again, nobody would say anything to me beside Kenny and Matty, and Crystal was being an actress with her 800 million personalities.

RNO: You didn’t get along well with your tribemates on Kota, and then seemed to have the same problem at Fang. Why do you think that was?

Kelly: It’s not that I didn’t get along with people at Kota, it was just that they were too into themselves and were all in it for themselves without a sense of humor.

I’m optimistic. And Fang is all losers. They’re horrible athletes except Matty. He’s probably the one that’s going to save that tribe. I’m so positive, but when we woke up, the first thing people would talk about is who to vote out. I was always the one who was optimistic. Let’s go to the challenge and try to win [so we don’t have to vote somebody out].

RNO: You also made mention in your final words that Crystal quit at challenges. From what we saw, you quit at some as well. How was that different?

Kelly: The thing is, I’m so athletic and I’m an athlete and I dominated in all those challenges. I was playing my character that they edited me to be, they didn’t want to show it. Crystal is an Olympic athlete. I was the second girl up the hill, but Crystal was struggling – she couldn’t even run up the hill. In the canoe one, I was trying to help Crystal, she was going in circles. I didn’t quit in any challenge. I was trying my hardest and I definitely don’t cry after I lose. I put my all in.

RNO: Were you surprised to find out that Crystal was a gold-medal Olympian?

Kelly: (Laughs.) Yeah, that’s funny. It doesn’t really show. I thought those people train hard and have a little teamwork and have a little more dedication and I didn’t see any of that.

RNO: What did you think of Crystal flipping you off while voting you out?

Kelly: (Laughs again.) I thought that was hilarious! Crystal is a beast – she doesn’t even know what she’s doing. I’m number one, that’s what it means.

RNO: When I interviewed Jacquie, she said some harsh words about you: “She was pretty clueless about the game. She didn’t even want to be out there. She didn’t help in the challenges or in camp. … She is an absolute idiot.” I wanted to give you a chance to respond.

Kelly: Oh, Jacquie, Jacquie, Jacquie. That’s funny – who voted you out? I did. I manipulated everybody. She was a dud on the show, no personality. Even Jeff said that. Jeff would yell at her for giving BS answers – she would agree with everybody else and had no personality, and wouldn’t speak out for herself. She’s not a genuine person, you can’t trust her. Good luck, Jacquie.

RNO: If you could have chosen one person from the game to get stomped on by the elephant that we saw near your tribe, who would it have been and why?

Kelly: Obviously Ace. Ace is such a jerk. It’s not even a real accent, it’s fake. He needs to be himself and stop tricking everyone. He has this $2000 bracelet that he’s wearing on Survivor! He’s not here to win the millions dollars, he’s too into himself.

RNO: What was the most eye-opening thing you saw on TV that you didn’t know about while you were there?

Kelly: Two things. First, I didn’t know Ace was such a jerk behind the scenes, saying all that stuff. Two, I didn’t know Sugar was that dumb to give Ace the idol and then tell Kenny about it. That was just a stupid move. I couldn’t believe when I saw that!

RNO: What did you do on the show that we didn’t get to see on TV?

Kelly: My athleticness came out in a lot of the challenges, but they didn’t show it. I’m a fit person and I’ve been in sports all my life. As you could see, I wasn’t the one who sat out, because they knew I was good physically. That’s what they didn’t show.

And Jeff would always pick on me.

RNO: How so?

Kelly: [In the challenges], he would always say, “Kelly is not moving,” and, “Kelly is doing nothing.” But it was fun, at least he was thinking of me.

RNO: Do you have anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Kelly: I had a great time and it was awesome. And I did my best and I have no regrets. I just hope Ace doesn’t win!

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Exclusive: Kelly Czarnecki talks about 'Survivor: Gabon'

By John Bracchitta, 10/24/2008

The eighteen days that Kelly Czarnecki, a 22-year-old retail salesperson from Buffalo Grove, IL, spent in Gabon were hardly the stuff that dreams are made of. In fact, after losing her ally early in the competition, being voted the least useful in her tribe, and then being switched to the "cursed" Fang tribe along with tribemates she did not like, her stay was downright tough.

However, after barely staving off elimination in the earlier rounds, circumstances finally caught up with Kelly as she became the fifth member of to be eliminated during the competition during Thursday's broadcast of Survivor: Gabon on CBS.

On Friday, Kelly talked with Reality TV World about how why she never secured a solid alliance in either tribe, what is really wrong with the Fang tribe, and what was said at Tribal Council that didn't make it on the air.

Reality TV World: At the Tribal Council last night you seemed to not hold much back when speaking about your tribe mates. Did you go into that Tribal Council already knowing you were going home?

Kelly: I definitely had an idea that I was going home, and I was being myself and speaking my mind. I always speak my mind.

Reality TV World: What had led you to think that you were going home? Did someone tell you? Or had no one talked to you?

Kelly: It was that day. Nobody talks to you, they're all just staring at you. It's like "You guys it's so obvious!" Somebody get some confidence and just walk up to me just say "Hey what's going on?" and just let me know that I'm going home because I kinda know!

Reality TV World: Why did you vote for [Crystal Cox] -- was that just a throw-away vote out of frustration about her Tribal Council comments or had something led you to believe she might be the one going home?

Kelly: I knew I was going home and I knew she was gonna vote for me. And just [how she acted in Tribal Council] it's like... You're a grown woman! You know that you can come up to me and talk to me, don't make assumptions. Don't think that I called you weak when I didn't, I'm in your alliance I'm here to further you. Don't listen to [Ace Gordon], who's just trying to get further in the game.

Reality TV World: Ok, and going off of that, When Ace denied he'd been critical of Crystal you said that he was talking in "doublespeak" but didn't really seem to push him too much [based on what was shown on last night's broadcast]. Was there more to your response?

Kelly: Yeah there was definitely more to that because I called him out on it and Crystal had something to say to that, so everyone was like "Oh what is this?"

So I left with saying the truth and I left with [letting] out a secret about Ace and what he really said about Crystal and [that] I wasn't the one that said it! He was the one that said everything.

He was just lying about me because he knew that I wanted to vote him out next, and he knew that I had a good alliance with all of them. So he did whatever he could to save his own self.

Reality TV World: Were you aware that Crystal had been campaigning to send Ace home instead of you before you went to Tribal Council?

Kelly: Yeah, we were trying to get Ace off in the beginning, like before [Jacque Berg].

Reality TV World: In your post elimination interview you said that Crystal "doesn't even have the power to push a team when she’s the one quitting half the challenges." I guess that leads to the question of what is your opinion of her?

Kelly: It was just interesting to learn after the show that she was an Olympic gold medalist. In the game she didn't -- and maybe it's because she wasn't eating enough or whatever -- she didn't really show much athletic ability. [Also] as an athlete you want to be stable, you need to know that you're going to lose sometimes and you're going to win sometimes. [You also] need to build your stamina. I don't know you just need to be a better athlete and it didn't really show in anything, especially the canoe challenge [when] she was just going around in circles!

Reality TV World: Did nobody [on the show] know she was an Olympic athlete? Or maybe anything else besides an school teacher?

Kelly: (Laughs) Nobody knew she was an Olympic gold medalist besides [Gillian Larson], who might have known. She did tell us that she played basketball.

Reality TV World: Personality wise it didn't seem like you two got along too well either. Is that accurate?

Kelly: Well no because we did get along pretty well. It just happened to be at the end of the episode we didn't get along.

Reality TV World: After the Reward Challenge, you went for a walk with Ace where he said Crystal was going down the same route as [Danny "G.C." Brown] -- did you agree with that or were you just nodding along with him?

Kelly: I didn't really agree with him (pauses) Actually I was nodding along with him and just going with what he was saying. I wasn't even really listening to what he was saying, I was kind of just like "What is Ace doing? Why is he walking with me? Why does he want to go to the jungle with me?"

And that's how I knew he was playing a trick because he wanted to talk about Crystal and as soon as you know it, Crystal is right behind me in the jungle! I was like "Yeah, here we go."

Reality TV World: Yeah, that was my next question. Did she tell you anything else other than what was shown on the show?

Kelly: All she said was "Don't take my tears as a sign of weakness." I was like "Please... Like, why do you cry otherwise?" and she's like "When I'm depressed it comes out of my eyes." Like, Okay what does that even mean.

So everything was said just like that. She's more about being quiet about everything and not up front.

Reality TV World: Going back to the Tribal Council, after Ace denied he had said anything, were you able to really make it clear and hammer down the point that he had been saying those things about Crystal?

Kelly: Yeah I definitely hammered it down and people definitely took charge of that and listened to it because Ace is conniving. He's lying. He's just trying to further himself in the game, and good for him because it's working in a sense.

But after I left, and I said the things I needed to say, I think people really listened and knew that I was being honest and had been honest the entire game.

Reality TV World: Right after that, Ace kind of called you stupid and made a little snide comment. What was your reaction to that? Had that been some type of stereotype against you?

Kelly: Ace just always tries to make everybody feel stupid in any which way because it's his way or no way. He's a condescending and arrogant person, and I'm sorry I have to say that but in the game that was Ace! That was furthering him because it makes people think "Maybe she is stupid. Blah, blah, blah."

I know I'm not stupid so it doesn't really matter. I definitely said a lot more things to him to make him feel dumb because he didn't know what to say after I would say something. And of course I don't know what he's saying half of the time because his accent is so foolish!

Reality TV World: Did you think his accent was put on or not?

Kelly: (Laughs) It was funny because Ace said that he only lived in the UK for about a few years and that his sister had an American accent. Sometimes it would sound like it would go on and off and it would be more intense sometimes. It was like "What is this guy doing!?"

Reality TV World: On both Kota and Fang it seemed that people didn't seem to get along with you at points and had a low opinion of you. Why do you think that was the case?

Kelly: On Kota I didn't think that they didn't like me, I just kept to myself and was watching everybody and do their own thing. They were all so uptight and had no sense of humor! I wanna smile and laugh and enjoy Africa at the same time and I wanna have a good time with you guys while playing this game but (pauses) I don't know.

Reality TV World: When you were going into the Tribal Council when you were eliminated, were you aware that [Matty Whitmore] had formed an alliance with Ace?

Kelly: No, I had no idea that Matty had formed an alliance with Ace but I did see [Matty] with Ace a few times. But I would never swear on my mother's life and his girlfriend's life. Like, this is a game for $1 million and they're not being serious. So that was dumb of Matty, but Matty's a cool guy.

Reality TV World: Modesty doesn't seem to be a big part of Ace's personality. Were you surprised to see him admit that deserved much of the blame for Fang's Immunity Challenge loss?

Kelly: Yeah, but it took him like five minutes to realize that in Tribal Council. He was going back and forth defending himself and then realizing that he really was the one that made us lose that Immunity Challenge.

Reality TV World: On last week's episode, even though G.C. was talking about feeling he was done, Crystal, Matty, [Ken "Kenny" Hoang] and yourself seemed to have decided to try and blindside [Jessica "Sugar" Kiper] at Tribal Council. However you guys ended up voting for G.C. -- what led to you guys making that decision?

Kelly: We talked about the Sugar and G.C. thing for so long too... The thing is, G.C. (pauses) he didn't have his head in the game. He would just get angry for no reason. Someone wouldn't call him his name and he'd be like "'C'mon that's not my name" and "Shut up, you don't tell me what to do!"

It's like, please we're playing a game. But he was bringing the team down and he really just wanted to lose every game! Right when we woke up before we were going to a challenge he would be like "Okay so who are we gonna vote out?" and trying to say "Kelly you know you wanna go home." It's like, "No I don't!"

He was just bringing down the team and we really didn't need that. We needed to win those challenges, so peace out G.C.

Reality TV World: With Crystal, Kenny, Matty and yourself had enough votes to boot Sugar without G.C. Why didn't you guys just vote for her anyways and then just let G.C. quit the game on his own if he wanted?

Kelly: (pauses) I'm so mad that G.C. quit too! (pauses again) Well my guess is... and I really wanted to vote Sugar out because it would have been the perfect time to blindside her. She knew G.C. wanted to quit. (pauses) If G.C. quit before we had gone to Tribal Council than I for sure would have voted for Sugar.

Reality TV World: But that wasn't something any of you really had in mind going into Tribal Council?

Kelly: No, I don't think so.

Reality TV World: What was your overall opinion of Sugar?

Kelly: Um, Sugar... (laughs) She's a character. In the game I don't know what she was trying to do. She was just like kind of all over the place and always trying to be like "Kelly don't do that" and I'd be like "Don't tell me what to do" and [she'd be] like "Yeah. I wouldn't want someone telling me what to do!"

So, Sugar was... (pause) Sugar. A crybaby. (whisper)

Reality TV World: Had Kenny told you that he'd approached her about voting Ace off and she'd told him she'd given Ace the idol?

Kelly: No, Kenny didn't tell us that at all.

Reality TV World: Before the tribes got re-picked, you guys had that ranking where you ended up being ranked the least important member of Kota. How did you feel about that?

Kelly: You know what, that was interesting! I knew that I was going to either be voted off or something was gonna happen so it wasn't a surprise to me. I lost [Paloma Soto-Castillo] and I bashed Ace in that Tribal Council.

It was definitely weird being picked last because I'm never usually picked last and I'm usually liked by everybody, so it was interesting. But I got over it.

Reality TV World: Did you think someone else deserved the spot more?

Kelly: Oh, for sure. Sugar. She wasn't good at any of the challenges.

Reality TV World: Once you got to Fang, you admitted you'd felt like the outsider at Kota. Why do you think you failed to be able to form any lasting alliances at either tribe?

Kelly: I don't know. Maybe because I was quiet and didn't really approach anybody. Ace approached me in the beginning, but I just saw right through it.

I was with Paloma and our whole thing was that we would take it as we go, and [our tribe] was on our honeymoon for so long and we were winning every challenge so we didn't even really think about it until that day. I didn't even know that Jacque, [Marcus Lehman], [Corrine Kaplan], and [Charlie Herschel] were in an alliance.

Reality TV World: Because you came from Kota, do you have any theories as to why the Fang tribe was in such disarray?

Kelly: (laughs) I have no idea! (pauses) You know what, actually I take that back. They just had no teamwork and something was missing there, like the positive vibe. Nobody was positive. I felt like when I went in there I was like "Okay here comes a burst of sunshine. Let's get this team going. Let's be happy, we're gonna win these challenges." [But then] in the morning they would just wait for the challenges to come and no one would talk about anything. I was like "Great..."

Reality TV World: Is the depiction of Fang on the show accurate? Are they really that unorganized?

Kelly: Yeah, the Fang tribe is definitely cursed and it's definitely a mess. Like, get those original Fang members out of there! They obviously are the ones who are making it bad.

Reality TV World: At one point last night you said you were "withering away." How much weight did you lose on the show?

Kelly: I lost 15 pounds

Reality TV World: Wow.

Kelly: Yeah. It was because we only started eating one meal a day. So yeah I definitely lost a lot of weight. It was gross.

Reality TV World: What surprised you the most about Survivor?

Kelly: What surprised me most was actually everything that it does to you emotionally, physically and mentally. The things that you go through definitely surprised me. It's definitely tougher than you think [when you are] just watching it on TV.

Reality TV World: Once you were eliminated, who did you want to see win?

Kelly: Um... I wanna see Kenny win!

Reality TV World: Any reason?

Kelly: Because his whole heart is in the game and he's trying really hard. He's playing a good game.

Jeff Probst blogs ‘Survivor: Gabon’ (episode 6) | EW.com
October 24th, 2008

First off, let me just say that this will be short. No reason. Just not a lot to say this week. It happens. You’ll see. One day it will happen to you too. No cause for alarm. It’s not any physical abnormality. It just happens sometimes. Deal with it. I am.


While they think they are punishing her, little do they know she is living it up, eating better than anyone, and she misses out on all the camp chores.

Okay, can we start with what is becoming my favorite story line…Sugar going to Exile Island. The best part is that while they think they are punishing her, little do they know she is living it up, eating better than anyone, and she misses out on all the camp chores. Camp life can really suck. Not for Sugar. Didn’t I tell you you’d be rooting for her. Admit it. You are. You can’t help it. Yes, she cries a lot, but she’s growing on you. Admit it. She is.

Then there’s Ace…was he a challenge hog trying to raise that flag all by himself? You know, like Kobe Bryant of the Lakers who never passes to anybody. Or was he just doing what any savvy person would do when confronted with the fact that his tribe still sucks and if he waited on them to contribute he’d still be there.

Personally, I say taking matters into his own hands was the right move in that challenge. Dude's playing for a million dollars.
Trusting Ace however is a whole 'nother ball game. Sugar seems to trust him but I'm guessing you don't. Admit it. You don't. I wouldn't either. It's that damn accent. Here's something you can trust, I'm gonna find out at the Reunion Show if the accent is real or not.

Gotta talk about the turtle. Here's the deal…my friend Sean is a hunter. My cousin Darren is a hunter. Sarah Palin is a hunter. A lot of my friends are hunters. I'm not. Neither is Sheetal, for the record. In fact, she really doesn't like hunters much at all. So, she pretty much hates the entire Kota tribe for killing the turtle. She thinks they had plenty of rice so why kill a "perfectly harmless minding-his-own-business" turtle. I tell her I don't know, ask Gov. Palin.

By the way, VOTE Nov. 4th.

Now let's deal with Kelly. I miss her already. I won't say it, but admit it, you do too. She's cute. Sure she's young and has a lot to learn and a lot of life to live. But so do you, so get off your damn soapbox and cut her a break. She did her best. She should be proud.

That's it. Remember, these are free.
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Exclusive Interview: Charlie Herschel of 'Survivor: Gabon'
Friday, November 14, 2008

Things only got worse for The Onion Alliance last night on Survivor: Gabon. An opposing alliance, headed up by Crystal and Kenny, managed to take out Marcus last week and last night, they got rid of his partner in crime, Charlie. Had the Kota and Fang tribes stayed in tact from the beginning of this game up until the merge, Charlie and his alliance would have made a good run all the way to the very end but Survivor is always full of twists and turns. Today, Charlie spoke to BuddyTV in an exclusive interview and keeps it positive.


Well, first tell me your reaction when you found out that Marcus had been eliminated.

I actually was predicting that Marcus would be eliminated once I realized that they had lost the challenge so although I did have a little bit of hope that maybe Susie, Kenny, and Crystal would keep the biggest threat in the game. I would’ve given anything to have seen him there. Needless to say, I was still disappointed when he didn’t walk in at that challenge and it was definitely a punch in the stomach.


It almost looked like it affected Corinne more than you. Was she more surprised?

Corinne was actually trying to convince me the day before. I was like, “Marcus is gone. Marcus is gone.” I’ve seen Survivor a million times. I know strategy. I mean, you’d have to be an idiot to not vote out Marcus. She kept saying, “Don’t put that in the universe. Don’t put that into the universe.” She’s a really positive person and she just didn’t want us thinking that way. Corinne also happens to be a little more emotive and when she finds out things or has emotions, she lets people know them a lot more than I do. I was a little more cautious. So even though I probably wanted to vomit at that moment, I tried to remain composed.


Speaking of strategy, what was your strategy coming into the game and did you have to change it up throughout?

My strategy was just to be a generally likable person and develop strong relationships. As I’ve noticed in past seasons, the people who made it to the end were actual genuine friends. You know, Todd and Courtney and Amanda and Parvati… and to build trust, you have to build that and develop that genuinely. That said, I really didn’t have a set in stone strategy. I know Survivor and I know the twists and you have to be on your toes. You have to be adaptable and flexible and I knew that’s what I was going to have to be.


When I talked to Marcus, he said that you two were genuinely friends in and outside the game. What does his friendship mean to you?

My friendship with Marcus, Corinne, and Randy is one of the most amazing things I got from this game. Especially Marcus. I really, really like and respect Marcus a ton and we’re very close. I have a lot in common with him, shared an experience that’s so unique, we saw eye to eye each step of the way. I feel very fortunate to have met Marcus and Corinne and Randy a lot of other people on the show.


Did you have a moment this season where you thought this was your lowest point?

You know, I tried to stay positive the whole time. I think the low for me was the first twist when they switched up the teams and then Jacquie got the boot and that was really tragic for our alliance. We were able to pick up the pieces. I think when I realized, at the ten, when we were supposed to merge, we had to pick out of a bag to switch tribes, I think that was a low. I was like, "Okay, what do I do know?" I throw my hands in the air because you can't really develop a strategy when it's just going to be broken down all the time.


Is Crystal running this game right now? What's going on?

I don't know who's running the game over there. I really don't know. From a viewer's perspective, it looks like it's Kenny and Crystal who are calling the shots. That alliance appears to be very strong. It doesn't look like my alliance is going to be able to duke it out to the end but I'm rooting for someone from my alliance.


What kind of Survivor player do you respect at the end of the day?

I respect intelligence and smart moves and I think if you're going to make strategic moves, take people out, which you have to do in Survivor, you can do it in a nice way. You don't need to give someone the finger when you vote someone out, like Crystal does. You can say, "You're a threat." There's ways to be strategic and there's ways that I don't respect. If I'm gonna vote for you, I want you to be there because you played the game, not because you sat along and got lucky enough to ride coattails.


What has life been like for you since you've been home and since the season has been started and you've been watching it?

I'm a huge Survivor fan, I've always been a huge Survivor fan. It's just looking at Survivor in a whole different way. My actual life is not different. I'm a lawyer, I go to work every morning, I work out, and I hang out with my friends but I have a whole new appreciation for Thursday nights?

I hated to see Charlie win but it was a necessary evil ... Corinne should have been the one to go!

Jeff Probst blogs 'Survivor: Gabon' (episode 9)
No need to bury the lead. One of my favorite moments of the entire season happened about seven minutes into this episode. Corrine's reaction to Marcus being voted out. It was almost as good as waiting for Santa to come.

First the Macaulay Culkin "hands to the face" reaction made famous in Home Alone and then the verbal response that revealed the rest of her truth: "I'm pissed. He didn't deserve to leave the game."

Which prompted Kenny's very fair question, "Who does?"

This is why we are still on the air and why I still love hosting Survivor after 17 seasons. Human nature. It is nearly impossible to hide our true selves, especially in times of conflict.

"He didn't deserve to leave the game." Only seven words. But judging from Kenny's clenched jaw reaction, those seven words might have just sealed Corrine's fate. Charlie was less upset and less vocal, and you saw what happened to him. Gone.

fully admit that it is sooooo easy for me to backseat drive. I'm not playing this game, living in the middle of Africa on nothing, my mind overloaded with strategy, wondering who I can trust, dealing with those annoying bug bites and having an obnoxious host up in my face all the time.

And hey, I'd be "pissed" too if they took out my ally. Marcus was good. Too good to let stay in the game. Corrine, Charlie, and Marcus had a real shot at going to the end and if so, Marcus wins hands down. He was that good. So I fully lay down and concede that I don't think I could hack this game, and as I have said hundreds of time, I have the utmost respect for anybody who raises their hand to endure this thing called Survivor. Now that I've cleared my conscience...it's time to get back to lipping off.

Corrine, it's just a thought, but when you sense the horse is going in a different direction, it might be wise to lessen your hold on the reins and let the horse guide the way. This horse is definitely going in a different direction and the person sitting in the saddle is Kenny. Kenny is...the new kid in town.

Watching Kenny come of age is reality's version of watching great Shakespeare. He's maturing from a young man into a leader...and in this game that means he may soon gain the throne. Ah, but if he gets too cocky, the gods will descend and a beheading is soon to follow. Watch yourself Kenny. A healthy dose of humility could help win you a million dollars.

I have to share a story about the golf challenge. There was much debate between the creative team about whether this challenge was going to provide enough drama. We just weren't sure, so we were hoping we might catch a break and get some really great reality during the challenge and as Survivor luck would have it, we did.

Thank you, Randy, for being so pushy, and thank you, Matty, for pushing back. "No, you can't do it, Randy." Love that moment. If you were paying close attention, Randy was absolutely right in what he was saying. "Just hold it over the hole and drop it." Ah, but once again human nature takes over, and Matty couldn't see straight to save his life.

Personally, I'm just so glad I'm perfect and have no issues whatsoever to deal with. I'm kidding. And while I'm at it, yes I read the comments you leave at EW.com, and yes, I know many of you think "Probst sucks." Whatever.

Man I love this blogging. Cheapest therapy yet.

Then there is the reward where once again, more human nature revealed itself. Corrine smiled! Corrine took the hand of a small child! Dare I say, Corrine loved!! Let them eat cake!! She has a heart! She is human! Yeah! And when Corrine smiles, I am reminded, Corrine is pretty damn attractive.

The merge – finally. Nuff said.

Question: How often has being eliminated in a challenge or at tribal council come down to making fire? Well, I don't know the exact number, but...it's a lot! I promise you if I was going to be on this show I would make certain I could make fire while blindfolded, untying knots, and solving a puzzle, 'cause that's what we do on Survivor! REI sells flint for five bucks! Order online and you don't even have to leave your house!

My final observation: Bob should work in the Survivor art department because the fake immunity idol he made is incredible. Truly beautiful. Still not exactly sure how he pulled it off but there had to be a bit of smelting going on and I don't even know what smelting means! His students back home in Maine should be proud! "Ole teach" is working it and the merge has given Bob new life!

Next time on...Survivor. One of the best episodes of the season. No hype. Pure truth.

I want a Matty/Sugar/Corinne final 3!

Jeff Probst blogs ‘Survivor: Gabon’ (episode 10) | EW.com


After tonight’s episode ended, I called Doc Horowitz and said, “I gotta get in to see you. I think something is wrong with me. I think I’m losing my edge. Going soft. Can you run a test or something, see what’s what?”

He asked me for my symptoms.

I said, “I felt badly for Randy getting played at tribal council like a banjo at a small town country fair. (Yes, I know, bad analogy and small town and country fair are probably redundant.)

Recognizing the severity of my condition, he immediately cancelled his morning appointments to squeeze me in. I'm waiting on the results.

In the meantime, I try to make sense of it all. Randy is a bitter man with a ton of enemies, and he had this coming like a kid who sticks a fork in a toaster. (Was that one any better?) He deserved what he got like Survivor deserves an Emmy.

So why did I feel bad? Maybe there is just something about Randy that I can relate to and sympathize with. Oh, he will hate me saying it like that.

My friend Serena thinks the answer lies with Sugar and the way she handled herself as I read the votes. "Not cool." (I think she might be right. Serena is almost always right.) That uncontrollable laugh that came from such a deep place inside Sugar was so uncomfortable that I almost wanted to pull the votes out, rearrange them, rewind the tape, and vote Sugar out. Ah, but that's just me. Me and Serena that is...Me and Serena sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.

I will say this - it was brilliantly played from top to bottom, and I do appreciate that level of execution. Bob deserves major credit. He built an amazing fake idol, and he played both Corinne and Randy so well. Didn't rush it, wasn't pushy. He was subtle. Subtle like the feather of an eagle falling softly to the ground. (Worse?)

Corinne on the other hand is equally as mean as Randy but I don't find myself rooting for her in any way. She is an original. I will give her that. Not sure we've ever had anybody on the show quite like Corinne. Corinne is as subtle as a thunderstorm. Subtle as the look I give a Survivor when they want to quit. Subtle as, I know, a Probst analogy.

Jerri Manthey can't hold a candle to Corinne. Jerri had some likable qualities about her, Corinne has none. Just ask her. She'll tell you the same thing.

By the way, (which is, by the way, one of the phrases that most annoys me because everyone in Hollywood uses it as a way to alert you they're about to say something brilliant) all this stuff about me being attracted to Corinne really surprised me. Here's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I felt like I had been beating up on Corinne for so long that when I saw her smile on the last episode I figured I'd say at least one nice thing.

Fittingly, Corinne probably hated that I said it in the first place. But just so we are clear, I have no interest in dating Corinne. I do not have the hots for Corinne. I don't think about Corinne. I like nice women. Done. Enough already.

The Survivor Auction. Food wise, Randy was the clear winner and provoked a wonderful 5th-grade argument with Sugar about a cookie, and of course Sugar had to get the last word, and did when she took the cookie and gave it to Matty. So there. Whatcha gonna do about it? Serena likes Sugar but thinks she gets it wrong every single time at tribal council.

I'm a little confused about the auction – it's the one point in the show where we give the Survivors free money and then let them bid on food items and the like. So...why was it so bitter?

Sugar hates Randy. Randy hates Sugar. Corinne hates Sugar. Sugar hates Corinne. Thank god everybody likes Bob. At least there's one person to root for.

I'll tell you this: If it keeps up it's going to be an amazing bloodbath toward the end.

I absolutely love watching Kenny get more and more cocky each week. At the auction for instance, Matty is bidding on the burger and fries and Kenny, who had the most money, shrugs his shoulders and says, "You can have it." Like Tony Soprano, this kid. I can't wait for the execution. I promise you if he keeps this attitude, it will happen and he will not see it coming.

Okay, so to recap, which Serena loves for me to do...

I'm concerned about my soft spot for Randy, not interested in Corinne, can't wait for Kenny to get his comeuppance, enjoyed the 5th grade cookie argument, and love Bob.

Now to answer a few questions from last week:

Regarding a Final 3 vs. a Final 2: Our main concern is to make sure we keep the show interesting, so we vary it from season to season as we see fit. There are strong arguments on both sides, and I promise you whichever side you take, I will take the other side and defeat you. I love debate.

To Penny P – uh...the reason I started saying "FANG" instead of "FONG" is because the tribe changed their name. Pay attention.

Finally, regarding the "same lines" I say every week, such as: "Come on in guys," "Wanna know what you're playing for?" "Immunity is back up for grabs," etc....

1. Yes, I write everything I say. Blame me.
2. Yes, I'm aware I say them every time. That's the joke. Hello.

That's it. I'm done.

'Survivor: Gabon': The Big Fake-out
First Bob tells Sugar about his fake immunity idol, and then he turns around and tricks a smug Randy into an embarrassing exit by Dalton Ross



HEY, EVERYONE. WELCOME BACK TO THE SURVIVOR TV WATCH! I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND THE ALL-CAPS, BUT I'M ON A MISSION TO SEE IF I CAN TYPE AS LOUD AS CRYSTAL TALKED WHILE CASTING HER VOTE AT TRIBAL COUNCIL. I UNDERSTAND IT MAY BE A LITTLE DISTRACTING AT FIRST, BUT I'M SURE YOU'LL GET USED TO IT IN A FEW PARAGRAPHS OR SO. WHAT'S THAT? THIS IS MAKING YOU WANT TO STEAL ALL MY COOKIES AND THEN STUFF ME IN A COOKIE JAR AND PLAY SKEET SHOOTING WITH THE JAR, THEREBY BLOWING ME TO SMITHEREENS? Fine, I'll stop. Happy?

But then allow me to start by saying this: As someone who firmly believes that the less you know going into an episode, the more you will enjoy it, I absolutely, positively hated, hated, hated the new fangled "Previously on Survivor" recap. By eschewing the traditional here's-what-happened-in-the-exact-order-it- happened recap format for one that placed so much emphasis on Bob's fake hidden immunity idol, the intro was basically screaming at us what to expect, which can't help but lessen the shock when it actually did. Sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine: Don't expect me to be surprised when you've already ruined the surprise for me! And this goes for the "next week on Survivor" as well. Why show us Bob explaining that Marcus had secretly pocketed the other immunity idol that he pretended to toss out to sea? Sure, the hope is that it gets people interested enough to come back and watch the episode. But guess what, Survivor fans are going to come back to watch the episode no matter what you show. You could preview me discussing the highs (Bloodsport, Cyborg) and lows (Double Team, Kickboxer) of the Jean-Claude Van Damme filmography and people would still come back to watch the damn show. (By the way, JCVD + Celebrity Survivor = GOLD!] Plus, now by the time we actually see it happen in the episode (whether Bob is telling the truth or if it's all just a ruse) it will only pack about one-tenth of the punch. Okay, rant over. Thanks for indulging.

It's better to burn out than fade away Neil Young once opined, and burn, baby, burn certainly became Randy's modus operandi. The guy who kept his temper and disdain in check for the first few weeks finally lost it. In fact, the episode began with Randy and Corinne arguing as to who hated the rest of the tribe more. We'd soon have our answer to that one once the players were summoned to the Survivor auction.

I think this one one of my favorite episodes this season. I did kinda like Randy before but I like the blindsides so much more! And in true Survivor fashion another successful blindside and not just a blindside but with another fake immunity idol being used! Love it!
The only one that was just as clueless as Randy was Corinne... Love it!

Sugar is becoming my favoite and I'm also leaning towards Crystal too for her loud crazy rant when voting Randy out... seriously loved that! That's never been done before but leave it to Crystal to get super loud when voting Randy out and especially since she knew he would be leaving for sure no doubt... only thing is if she is in the bottom 2 or 3 ...will his vote be the vote that costs her a million... damn this game! haha

Castaway Interview: Corinne Kaplan
By Gordon Holmes

We had a chance to ask the last Shreker standing some questions the morning after her booting, and she did not hold back! Check out her no-holds-barred opinions of Sugar, Matty, and the rest of the remaining players.

Gordon Holmes: Now what I’ve been hearing, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you and Sugar have been feuding since Day 2.
Corinne Kaplan: That’s correct. But I wouldn’t say it’s a feud. A feud requires two people. I just decided that I didn’t like her on Day 2. I think she figured it out on Day 22. There’s a lot of things about Sugar that I … they’re just not things I look for in a friend. She started off heavily flirting with Ace, Marcus, practically everybody. Then she was saying that she’s bisexual, then she’s talking about her sexual conquests. Something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. It’s just not the kind of girl I would hang out with.

Gordon: Did it surprise you when Bob told Sugar about the fake idol?
Corinne: No, Bob is really one of the most sincere, genuine guys. Sugar was original Kota, and at that point he thought she was going to come with us. He didn’t know she was going to vote out Charlie when she did. Even though I didn’t like her, she liked Kelly, she liked Bob. But we thought she was going to stay with Kota.

Gordon: Our readers and my own mother absolutely adore Sugar, but players like you, Charlie, and Randy seem to hate her. Do you think she’s being portrayed accurately?
Corinne: If you think Sugar is so likeable, then why when we shuffled the tribes wasn’t she picked? Why do you think they like Sugar?
Gordon: No clue.
Corinne: If you like someone who has no education, is covered in tattoos, and didn’t bother to go to the gym once before she got on the show “Survivor”, then I guess she’s your cup of tea. But if you like someone who worked hard and played hard and really prepared themselves for the game, then that’s my alliance.

Gordon: During the recap episode last week, you said you had a speech planned for Sugar if you were ever voted off. Why didn’t we see that last night?
Corinne: I knew I was going home and I was so thrilled to be joining my best friends who are sitting on the jury. So when he votes me off, I turn to Marcus, Charlie, and Randy and said, “Chill the vodka, boys. I’m coming home.” And when he snuffed my torch out, I was probably the only person in “Survivor” history that said, “Thank God!” What I meant by “I was going to go off on Sugar” was, basically, I knew she was going to be coming to the Ponderosa (where voted off jury members wait for the next Tribal Council) or she was going to be in the final three. Either way, I promise you, you will see me going at it with Sugar.
Gordon: Now I’m excited.
Corinne: I am a woman of my word. I guarantee you will see something never seen before.

Gordon: One of the things that shocked me last night was you said good luck to Kenny and Bob, but not Matty.
Corinne: I don’t like Matty.
Gordon: Why not?
Corinne: I take that back, Matty is fine. Matty for the entire time I was staying with him he would talk about how much he hated Crystal. He was saying all these things like he genuinely didn’t like these people. But, when he was given the chance to flip -- and you saw Randy and I trying to work him over -- he really likes Randy, but he wouldn’t flip. He could have changed the game, but he was too much of an (expletive deleted) to do it.

Gordon: We’ve been bouncing around names like The Onion Alliance…
Corinne: Please don’t call me that, can I please correct that?
Gordon: Sure.
Corinne: There was never an Onion Alliance. Never heard that name till I was off the show. Me, Marcus, and Charlie were Manage A Kota.
Gordon: Got it. But for Charlie and Marcus, I’ve heard “Charcus” and “Marlie.” Which one are you leaning toward?
Corinne: Yeah, it was an alliance of three! I prefer it to be “Cocharcus!” There’s no weird thing with Marcus and Charlie being lovebirds on the show. I spent more time with Charlie, probably, than Marcus did. And the three of us were inseparable.

Gordon: Now, somebody who may be your biggest fan is Randy. Can you tell us how that friendship came about?
Corinne: Here’s a guy who’s 20 years older than me, he’s a recluse who lives in a cabin in Missouri. He is more attached to his dead dog than to people, and he is literally my twin. I would cry laughing so hard with Randy. There was something about him that just clicked with me.
Gordon: They should show more of that.
Corinne: The show “Survivor” does not lend itself to comedy. And there are all these hilarious moments like Charlie and I teaching each other tap routines and Randy and I are mocking other players.
Gordon: Did you spend any time mocking Marcus’s air guitar?
Corinne: (Laughs) No, I love Marcus.

Gordon: The fake immunity idol was phenomenal. Is there some craft store where Bob’s getting the pieces from?
Corinne: That’s a good question. People think that Bob smuggled them in his (expletive deleted) or something.
Gordon: That’s an idol I wouldn’t want.
Corinne: Exactly. Do you remember when I paid $500 for a clue?
Gordon: Yes.
Corinne: Well, we decided obviously that the pieces had to be from something people didn’t recognize, so we can’t just take them off of the Nobag flag. So we took the beads that came from around my clue. There were these beads around it on this rope. So we used those and woke up at, I don’t know, 4 in the morning and took all the metal pieces off of the Tribal Council torches.

Gordon: OK, word association time…Susie?
Corinne: Hmm…I don’t want to say it. I would say somewhere a sugar farm is missing a migrant worker.
Gordon: Rice?
Corinne: Best diet ever.
Gordon: Gabon?
Corinne: Ga-blows.
Gordon: Jeff Probst.
Corinne: Great lay.
Gordon: Kelly?
Corinne: Great rack.
Gordon: This is a family site, Corinne.
Corinne: (laughs)
Gordon: Sugar?
Corinne: The word “Sugar” should stand for “So Unbelievably God Awful and Retarded.”

Exclusive: Corinne Kaplan dishes about her time on 'Survivor: Gabon'
By John Bracchitta, 12/05/2008

For Corinne Kaplan, a 29-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative from Los Angeles, CA, it was clearly evident that desperate times called for desperate measures.


As one of only two remaining members of what was once the mighty Kota "onion alliance" -- and facing certain elimination after her only ally won immunity -- Kaplan's all-or-nothing plan to parlay a second fake immunity idol into two new allies nearly worked, but fell short as she became the twelfth castaway to be eliminated from Survivor: Gabon during last night's broadcast on CBS.

On Friday, Kaplan talked with Reality TV World about what she felt her chances of surviving the Tribal Council truly were, why she still has no love for her former Fang opponents, and what misconception by her alliance had opened the door for the first "fake idol" debacle only three days earlier.

Reality TV World: So, to start, in your exit statement you wished [Ken "Kenny" Hoang] luck and said that he and [Robert "Bob" Crowley] were the only two castaways you seemed to liked. Did you still feel that way after learning that Kenny had a hand in Crystal's vote for you?

Corinne: Yeah. I mean, when I said that, obviously I didn't know about [Kenny's involvement in Crystal's vote]. Kenny was one of the people really... that I liked. He was a nice guy, and they all treated me basically like a leper, and Bob too. They wouldn't talk to us, if we walked into the hut they'd all leave. They didn't wanna be alone with us ever, and Kenny was very sweet about -- even though I was, I guess, the enemy -- he would go canoeing with me. He was kind of a friend while I was out there, I liked him. So I certainly didn't wish ill upon him, he's a good kid.

Unfortunately, he got a little too big for his britches and he made, I think, a real poor choice of trying to flesh out an [Immunity Idol] and voting for me instead of [Matty Whitmore]. But I still think he's a good guy.

Reality TV World: On last night's show, there was a clip were you were shown saying how incompetent the remaining former Fang members were. Given they'd already managed to beat your entire alliance by that point, how was that comment not more of an indictment of your own performance than theirs?

Corinne: Well, one thing I'd like to clarify is my alliance includes Bob, so they haven't beaten my alliance yet. And, truthfully, there's only one person that beats me. There are 18 people in this game, and there are 17 losers. So, I'm on the jury, there are four people on the jury already [and] the first three are my best friends. I will decide who gets the million [dollars], so take that for what it's worth.

I don't think... I mean, in your opinion, do you think if all those twists didn't happen that we would not have dominated?

Reality TV World: I think you guys definitely had it [going] up front in the beginning...

Corinne: (interrupting) Yeah, so the game was luck and chance! I don't give them credit for that.

Reality TV World: Having watched the show at home now and maybe seeing different things, do you still think [the former Fang folks] were incompetent as you did before?

Corinne: Yes.

Reality TV World: So you attribute it more to luck and things like that...

Corinne: Well I think... You know, listen... That's really cute. If I got seventh place and you got sixth place, mazel tov. But I mean, really did you win? I stayed 33 out of 39 days. Anyone who stayed the extra couple of days, I really don't think that makes you -- unless you win the $1 million -- I just really don't think that makes you some sort of rocket scientist compared to me.

Reality TV World: You really seemed to instantly on board with Bob's "[Marcus Lehman] secretly kept the idol" story last night. Was there some reason you were so willing to believe that he could've had that idol?

Corinne: No. I mean I wanted to believe it, [but] honestly in my mind... I knew Marcus very well. Marcus is extremely intelligent. He would never leave an idol when he's going to [Tribal Council], that just would never happen.

But, when Bob's telling it... You have to understand, I've never seen Bob lie! He's not really that guy, so at the beginning when he started that pitch I was like "Really?!" and he was like "No" and I was like "Yeah, I figured that." I mean, it was about a nanosecond that I was on board with it, but he was just trying to fix the story to see if it was believable.

Reality TV World: Going back to that episode when Marcus did throw away the idol, didn't everyone get a chance to look at the idol and see it before they threw it away? And if so, did Bob's really look like it?

Corinne: Yes, that's a great question. The idol, when it was shoved in[to the bottle], it had little metal pieces. Bob and I knew to mimic the idol -- or at least what everyone saw, especially what was sticking out of the bottle when we threw it into the ocean. We needed little metal pieces, which we got off of the Tribal Council torches. So it did look a lot like the idol that was thrown in the water.

Reality TV World: So that's why people would have been so willing to believe it?

Corinne: We just ripped it off, so it was like a string and it was kinda raggedy, and there were these metal pieces that mimicked the metal pieces you saw on the first one. It was a great replica.

Reality TV World: On last night's show, Kenny seemed pretty certain he would be able to convince you to play the fake idol even though the only reason you guys had allied together was because you thought both he and Crystal would be joining Bob and yourself in voting for Matty....

Corinne: (Interrupting) Yeah, I don't get his strategy at all. If he thought I was going to play the idol why not still vote Matty out? Matty is an immunity threat and.. again I don't understand this... Can you explain to me how if you are in an alliance of five, you cannot all go to the finals! You have to jump ship, you have to make a move in order to change the outcome of the game. So why would you want me gone when I'm in a desperate scenario and I will take you at least to [the] Final 4. Now you're going up against Matty, who's great at Immunity Challenges, and you're in a group of five instead of four. It makes no sense.

Reality TV World: Yeah, and going off of that, what was [Kenny's] explanation about why [if he and Crystal were going to be voting for Matty] he felt you needed to play the fake idol?

Corinne: Well he just said "You have to play it. You should play it. I don't know if [Crystal Cox] is definitely gonna switch and I'm scared that if I vote for you than I'm gonna put myself at risk. Please just play the idol." And you have to understand, an idol's only good through Day 36, so even if I kept it I only would've had it for one more round even it if was real.

I said to [Kenny] "Don't worry, I'm playing it no matter what, so just try and get Crystal," because I couldn't seem paranoid that I needed Crystal to vote with me, that doesn't make any sense. What I said to [Kenny] was "for solidarity purposes..." and I said this to her, "... if you vote with me, I know you're with me. If you vote against me, and I stay, I'm gonna take out one of yours, I'll take you next."

Reality TV World: So you told them you were going to play the Idol?

Corinne: I said "No matter what I'm playing this idol." (pauses) Apparently it wasn't believable.

Reality TV World: As [Last night's] episode went on, you seemed increasingly confident that the fake idol plan might actually [work]. Did you think Matty was going to be going home when you left for Tribal Council?

Corinne: No. I mean, honestly, I knew like 99% that I was going home. But I thought that it was possible... I mean imagine the position I was in. What I came up with, and how I got at least three votes against Matty... I only lost by one vote and that's pretty amazing.

It shoulda been a slam dunk that I was going home and it was actually a question. I think even people watching actually thought there was a chance that I may not go home.

Reality TV World: Do you have any idea why Kenny felt the need to give Matty a third vote in order for his plan to work? Wouldn't Matty have still gone home [for being] the second highest vote-getter even if only Bob and yourself had voted for him?

Corinne: Right. Well I think Kenny wanted to show his support so that if Matty went home I would believe he was with me, and I wouldn't think the same of Crystal. So if there was a Final 3 it would've been me, Bob and Kenny [instead of] me, Bob and Crystal.

I would assume that's why he did it, but I have no idea, I don't speak to him.

Reality TV World: When you told [Kenny] about the idol... it seemed that Crystal was a little skeptical at first when hearing about the fake idol...

Corinne: Well I purposefully didn't talk to Crystal about the idol, I had Bob do it because Bob is very convincing. I told Bob "Look her in the eye, make it seem real." and he did. You heard her saying "He looked me in the eye, he kissed me on the cheek, it's definitely real."

I handled Kenny because I thought I was better with Kenny and he was better with Crystal. But I thought we had them going.

Reality TV World: Yeah, well I was gonna say, it seemed like you had Kenny [immediately] hook, line and sinker. Was it really that easy to get him to switch alliances?

Corinne: I think I was a good actress! (laughs) I think that, had I played that any other way, he... I mean he luckily comes to me and says "I'm sorry, you're going home" and I say "Oh, don't worry about me," and he's like "What do you mean?" and I'm like "Nah don't worry about it, I'm gonna be fine, don't worry about me."

And then he's prying and he's like "I won't tell anyone, I promise." And I know for sure he's gonna tell Crystal, so I thought that went down flawlessly.

Reality TV World: Had you and Bob thought about going to Kenny and Crystal before the whole "fake idol" thing about trying to get them to switch?

Corinne: I knew [Jessica "Sugar" Kiper] and [Susie Smith] were a wash, I knew they weren't gonna come over. I had tried with [Randy Bailey]. Randy was real close with Matty, and the fact that we couldn't get Matty to flip, even though he hated Crystal, he wouldn't flip because he's just a big pussy. (laughs)

[Matty] wouldn't flip so I knew he was no shot. I knew Kenny liked me and I knew I had something with Kenny and I thought Crystal was my only shot. So of the remaining people other than Kenny, Crystal was the only other person you could reason with. She's moderately intelligent.

Reality TV World: Last night, it looked the only reason Crystal and Kenny had any hesitation [to go through with the original plan to both cast their votes for Matty] was because of the fake idol and [their hope to get you to play it]. Do you think if you had just avoided [the fake idol story] entirely and just gone to them and said you wanted to get rid of Matty that they would have gone with you?

Corinne: Hindsight is 20/20. Honestly I think I was going home no matter what. Sure, I would have loved to have had the knowledge. And you have to know, I didn't even really know that Crystal was in an alliance with Kenny. Crystal and Sugar were attached at the hip, so I didn't really know what my odds where and I knew she had been with Matty since the beginning.

Honestly, I really didn't know. I wish I would've known that, but I don't even know if that would've worked. They were really tentative to leave the alliance, which again is retarded because you're five people, you can't all go to the finals. But they were really nerved out about leaving their alliance.

Reality TV World: Had you and Bob thought about other plans to get [other castaways] to come over before the fake idol plan?

Corinne: Please... I tried, every single one of them I tried at some point. It was just clear that none of them were budging.

Reality TV World: On the show there seemed to be a lot of times where you were pretty open about yourself being naturally mean, and Jeff Probst even termed you a "self-proclaimed uber-bitch" before the show began airing this fall. That can be a handicap in a game like Survivor, did you ever worry that being so outspoken might come back and haunt you?

Corinne: To be honest with you, that's not why I was voted out. Look at someone like [Charlie Herschel] who was nice to everybody, or Marcus. That doesn't matter.

And I was not outspoken. I was funny and I was really nice around camp, but I did stuff like that in confessionals because that's how I was feeling and I thought it would be really neat if I was honest and the viewer could see what I was really going through rather than cover my ass because it's on national TV. I thought it was way more fun to just be yourself.

But around camp you would be hard pressed not to find people that liked Sugar from [this] season. I had a lot of friends. I had a very strong alliance, we really liked each other. I loved [Jacque Berg], [Paloma Soto-Castillo], [Kelly Czarnecki], I even liked [Ace Gordon].

Reality TV World: Moving on to Sugar, Randy and yourself hadn't thought that she found the [Immunity Idol hidden at Exile] when Bob was doing the whole "fake idol" thing the first time. Why were you and Randy so confident that [despite spending so much time out there] Sugar hadn't found the Idol?

Corinne: That's a misconception. I knew she had the idol, I thought she played it and that's why Kelly went home, because it didn't make sense to me why they would have voted Kelly out. She had already flipped, she was in an alliance with the Fang members at that time, and she's athletically much better than Sugar.

So I thought -- and we were told [by Sugar and Matty] -- that Sugar played the idol to stay in the game when Kelly was voted out, which made total sense to me. That's why I thought it was back out there.

I knew she found it, I mean c'mon! The girl spent 15 days out there. A monkey could find it.

Reality TV World: How were you cast on the show?

Corinne: I was recruited off MySpace, purely recruited. I mean I love the show now and I watched hours and hours of it and now I'm a fan, [but] I wasn't prior to this. I didn't seek it, they found me.

Jeff Probst blogs 'Survivor: Gabon' (episode 12)


Ah, yes. You knew it was coming. There had to be a reaction, the only question was how big would it be? Sugar's spastic fit of laugher at the last tribal council did not go unnoticed by her fellow Survivors. The typically calm and quiet Bob would stay silenced no more! Cue the organ! Cue the lightning! The Wrath Of Bob hath doest rained down upon Sugar with a ferocity not seen since Sue Hawk's infamous speech about snakes and rats. It was strong. It was clear. It made Sugar cry. I know. Big surprise.

Fortunately, love came to save the day. Here's my take on the loved ones episode. You either love these episodes or you have no heart. There's no middle ground. I don't care if you're a guy or a chick, young or old. You either have a spot inside you that gets touched when you see love or...well...you're Dexter Morgan. Anyone? Anyone? It's my new favorite show. Sorry, Mary Louise Parker. You never called back. I'm moving on.

I love the loved ones episodes and this was a very good one. Matty proposes to his girlfriend and Sugar says goodbye to her father. Come on. Tell me you weren't at least a little moved. Yes, we know, Dexter, you don't feel. You're excluded. But everybody else, how can you not be moved by those two very different but equally touching forms of love.

Now you understand why my nickname on location is "Jeff loves love."

Okay, onto the strategy part of the game....Muy importante that Bob wins immunity, otherwise he is done. Gone. History. There is no hiding that Bob is a threat in the game, but the dude won't lose. Can't lose. Even something like tossing a ball 50 feet down a cliff he wins. Could this be his destiny? Or am I just playing with ya?

While we're at it, nobody and I mean nobody, is paying attention to Susie. Even I forget to talk about her. Is that by design? Am I trying to fool you? Susie is in this to win it and she is in a fantastic position at this point because she is out of the line of fire. Kenny and Crystal are gunning for Matty. Sugar hates Corinne. Bob is a physical and social threat. And that leaves Susie just hanging out by the fire talking about who knows what and avoiding the vote. Nicely done, Susie.

Kenny the master manipulator is at it again. Spreading lies and making up stories like any good potential Survivor winner must do! Bravo Kenny. You are really playing this game and I love it. Side note: When I first met Kenny in casting I told him he could not win this game. Yes I am ready to admit I was wrong if he does. I will say it loud and I will say it at the live finale. I'm not proud. I also told Marcus he couldn't win and he's still mad at me about it. Marcus, look you're too much of a threat. Harvard, Bachelor of the year, you're a physician. Ain't gonna happen my friend. Deal with it already. Okay, so maybe what he's really mad about is that I did call him arrogant. Fair enough. Add another person who will not want to have anything to do with me at the live show. But come on Marcus, I'm a reality show host, you're a friggin' bachelor of the year doctor. I'm entitled to a bit of envy. Just let me have it, won't you?

Finally – another fake immunity idol almost made its way into the game! Bob really is some kind of mad scientist out there. If he were really good, he'd make Corinne disappear. Oh wait, he did! Remember that scene in ghost when the guy dies and all those black scary looking bat type things float out of his body? I swear that happened as I snuffed Corinne's torch. Check the tape.

Next week on...Survivor. A new agreement could completely change the game....if only you could trust these people to keep their word.

One more thing!!! A big heads up to all Survivor fans and reality fans in general: At the end of the Survivor: Gabon finale on Dec. 14th, we will be putting up for bid all kinds of really cool Survivor memorabilia from this season.

And...this year we have lots of extra items up for bid, including: Tickets to American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Deal or No Deal, the WWE, Project Runway and the season finale of Survivor 18 in New York! (It helps to have famous friends!)

We are also putting up for bid a once-in-a-lifetime item — a visit to the set of the next Survivor. That's right. Two people will get to visit us on location! You will see a reward or immunity challenge, see tribal council, participate in a challenge rehearsal, eat with the crew, visit the famous art department and hang with me! The auction starts immediately following the reunion show!

Tell your friends — every penny goes to my charity, The Serpentine Project, helping foster youth transition into adulthood!