“They Couldn’t Have Been That Dumb” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Samoa’s Betsy

I spoke to both Mike and Betsy at the same time, since they were both eliminated in the same episode. So while I was directing questions at each of them individually, the other was always free to speak up as well – as Mike did here. I interviewed Mike after Betsy, and you can read that interview here. Read on to find out what Betsy had to say!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Betsy, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline!

Betsy: Sure.

RNO: After trying to get on to Survivor for so long, did you have a particular strategy coming into the game?

Betsy: To tell you the truth, it was a tough – it’s such a fun game and that’s why I think it’s such a success, because there are so many twists and turns. It was hard for me to come up with just one strategy. I was hoping to play strong and work hard around the camp – gosh, I didn’t know 48 was going to look so old around camp! I just wanted to be a strong physical player. It started out because I needed a vacation when the kids were younger, and I thought it would be a vacation on Survivor. Once I got accepted on the show, [my strategy] was just to be a strong worker around camp.

Mike: That’s where we differ. My idea of a vacation – Survivor was waaaay down on the list.

Betsy: But with no laundry. That’s heaven.

RNO: You obviously picked up on Russell’s shadiness. But why come out and tell him directly after you saw Marisa pay the ultimate Survivor price for doing the same thing?

Betsy: Russell just makes your skin crawl. You just can’t even stand looking at him. (Mike laughs in the background.) Mike didn’t have as hard of a time. I just spoke my mind and told him I didn’t trust him. It was hard to keep in because he’s such a snake and I didn’t want to deal with him and get sucked in to his shenanigans. He really is a nasty kid.

RNO: Did you have any inking into just how nasty he truly was?

Betsy: Physically, he is nasty (laughing, with Mike laughing too) just walking around in his poop-stained nasty underwear. How can you not [think he’s nasty]? His sly smile – granted he has beautiful blue eyes but they are snaky slanty eyes and you can tell a lot from somebody’s eyes. I just didn’t like him right off the bat. And I do hate talking trash about somebody but he’s kind of easy to hit on.

RNO: Did you realize how much pull Russell had with the rest of the tribe?

Betsy: I had no idea that he had that strong a pull. I had no idea he was that powerful. When I was trying to talk to the girls and they didn’t say anything, I’m thinking, “What did Russell do to them? How did he get such control over these women?” I couldn’t grasp it. I still don’t understand it!

Mike: They were young!

Betsy: Yeah, but still. They couldn’t have been that dumb, but obviously… I tried, but it seemed like they shut their mind down to me and they opened it up to Russell. They just wouldn’t listen to me.

RNO: Did you feel at all vindicated when you said, in Tribal Council, that Ben was the kind of guy who always says the other person did worse things and then Ben said essentially that very thing a little while later?

Betsy: Yes! It’s so obvious! He said the exact same thing.

RNO: Marisa told me that Ben used racial and gender slurs, and then we heard him referring to Yasmin and the ghetto. How did the rest of your tribe react to such statements?

Betsy: They were horrified but their thing was, “That’s Ben.” He says that stuff. He’s old enough to know better, there was no need for that. But they took it with a grain of salt. And it is Ben. But there’s no need for it.

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

Betsy: I didn’t know Russell found the idol so easily, in front of everybody. I didn’t know he was that close to Jaison and I was sad that Jaison was getting underneath Russell’s spell there.

Mike: Yeah.

RNO: Before I move on to talk to Mike, do you have anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Betsy: Just that I loved every second of it! I loved it and it was better than I could have imagined. It definitely exceeded my expectations and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

RNO: Thanks again, Betsy!

Readers – be sure to click over to my interview with Mike, which also featured additional comments and thoughts from Betsy!

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