“I Played a Strong Game” – Reality News Online’s Interview with Survivor: South Pacific’s Albert

As I noted in my interview with Coach, when we get to the end and have so many finalists to interview, CSB schedules conference calls instead of one-on-ones like we usually do. But I still had the opportunity to ask several questions of Albert and listen as some other reporters brought up other issues. You get to read about them all, beginning with mine, which of course are the most insightful, and finishing with questions asked by others.

Reality News Online: Congratulations on making it to the final three! You seemed to be doing all the right things for a Survivor player to be doing, so why do you think you didn’t get any votes to win at the end?

Albert: That’s an interesting question. When I prepared for the game, I felt like I prepared better than anyone. I felt like I was locked in, ready to go and play a winning game.

Jury management is a tough thing. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’ t replay final Tribal Council in my head. Most of the jurors had their minds made up. You don’t have many seasons where the three players who played the best game get to the end. We played a head and shoulders better game than anybody else.

Ozzy played an atrocious game of Survivor! (Coach, who was also on the line, jumped in to cheer on Albert with a “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” If you’ve already read my interview with Coach, you know that he went even farther when talking about Ozzy, calling him a “whiny little bitch”!) He got voted out three times in one game. It’s almost embarrassing.

I went into the game with the people who played the best game there other than myself . I’m not ashamed of the results. I’m not upset. I played a strong game. I’m really proud.

RNO: Was it always Sophie who shot you down when you had ideas of how to switch things up rather than sticking with the Upolu Five, or did you decide on some of them on your own but we just didn’t see it?

Albert: It wasn’t specifically Sophie. A lot of the post-merge play, it seemed like Sophie was the one who shot me down. The key is if you don’t have the numbers, you can’t make a move. There were a couple scenarios I entertained. In a game where people react emotionally, I think logically and rationally. For Sophie, it worked out the best. For myself and some others, there were some other spots where we could have possibly made a better play.

Some people felt a false sense of security. I couldn’t pull the numbers. I wasn’t going to “out” myself by trying to make a move and falling flat on my face. Sophie was a proponent of staying the course. I wasn’t there to just make it to the end and have a good experience, but to make the best possible play. Every move I made, every word I said, there was a reason behind it. If there’s not a reason, you’re not playing the game properly. Granted, it didn’t work out the best for me, results-wise.

RNO: One the one hand, you told us that honor, integrity, and loyalty didn’t mean anything to you on Survivor and you did what you needed to in the game. On the other hand, we saw you participating in the prayers and insisting to us that it was real. The game is over now, so let’s hear the truth: How much of that was real and how much was the game?

Albert: Coming into the game, honor, integrity, and loyalty could not mean less to me within the game of Survivor. In real life, they’re very important. But this isn’t real life. I was playing a million-dollar strategy game, this is a unique creature.

In terms of the prayers, I never expected it. I’m a God-fearing man, but I never thought it would play such a big role. We were all pretty active in coming together. That drew us together. I’m not a bull-rider or a rancher or a med student. When you don’t have things to connect to people other than that one factor, that was very real and very true. Did I have an opportunity to connect with people over that? Yeah.

The other stuff? The only bad thing was that it played too well. My pre-game preparation was, “Let’s get everybody on my tribe to think it’s us vs. them.” It worked too well. Our tribe was so tight, so close, that nobody wanted to make a move. I walked myself in a corner. All the players in my alliance, nobody wanted to move. I loved that they all were playing honorably, but it limited my moves.

Question: Going into Tribal Council, what did you think your chances were?

Albert: I knew I had an uphill battle given the nature of the game. Not every juror will come in saying, “Let’s make the most logical, rational decision.” I knew I had ground to make up. Coach hit the nail on the head [in his interview]. I expected a longer, more drawn-out scenario where we had an ample opportunity to make our case. I thought every person was going to ask each of us a question. I didn’t think they were going to be yes-or-no questions. I didn’t think there were going to be just comments made where we couldn’t state our case.