“The Real Me Got Heard Last Night” – Reality News Online’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: One World’s Bill

As you might imagine, I had a lot of questions for Bill – including many submitted by readers (though most of the ones submitted by readers were variants of the first one you’ll see). Bill was quite happy to answer and give all of his thoughts on what happened leading up to and in this week’s episode. So let’s get to it!

Reality News Online: Hi, Bill, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at Reality News Online! I actually picked you as my pre-season prediction to win, and you seem to be a really nice guy, so I was doubly sad to see you leave to soon.

Bill: there’s been a few people who’ve made that mistake.

RNO: Let’s start with the question that readers have already been begging me to ask you – why on earth would you agree to go to this Tribal Council?!

Bill: When you’re out there, there’s a lot of things that people aren’t necessarily feeling or understanding and you only get to see so much. The truth of the matter is [these] things were going through my mind: Somebody needs to stand up to Colton because this idea that he’s going to boss everybody around needs to change. I believed I had some allies among my tribe – at least four people who weren’t completely devoted. I don’t get to see his interaction with other people and the influence he has. There’s a lot of things that come into play. If I was as privy as everybody watching, I would know a little bit more and be able to make more informed decisions. But I was going along with what people were telling me. If you look a man in the eye and he says, “I’m with you,” you gotta go with that. I believed I had an opportunity to expose Colton for what he was and to find out why he didn’t like me – and maybe send him home with an idol in his pocket.

The other side of this coin is these guys are coming to me, saying we’re going to give up immunity and take Leif out. If they’re willing to give up immunity, they’re willing to throw a challenge next week and get whoever they want out. I could be here another three days maybe. Why not try to make a big move right now?

The way men vs. women set us up; if it were a mixed bag, the more athletic, stronger players get a chance to probably stick out and stay. It would be more competitive in the challenges. But men vs. women, if you’re a stronger physical player, the chances are harder. The only thing I could do was go in and try to convince my teammates this guy was just bad for everybody. It didn’t work out (laugh). The honest answer is none of it worked.

RNO: The previews seem to indicate a tribal swap is coming next week. Did the thought of a swap occur to you, such that those extra three days might have mattered indeed?

Bill: It didn’t run through my mind that early. I thought it would play out. You don’t know. You’re hungry, you’re thinking, you’re strategizing in the moment. It’s all one world so why would they swap when we’re all already together? You just don’t know. All you can do is live in the moment. How cool would it be to make this move, send Colton home with the idol?

Had I not done that and stood up to him, then I don’t know if the real me would have ever been heard. I feel like the real me got heard last night. Who I am got to come out. I didn’t just follow Colton like my other castmates.

RNO: Who determined that this was even allowed by the game’s rules?

Bill: I don’t even know. That’s another thing too. I’m sitting there going – I thought I read the rule book. Okay. I don’t know who determined it. It’s a rule. They [the rule writers] were probably like, “Whoever does this is stupid.” You know what? We were really stupid! We’re human. We made Survivor history, which was detrimental to my behalf. [Making Survivor history is] not a bad way to go out on that kind of note.

Had it have worked – had I gone to Tribal Council with the four people I thought I had on my side, we blindside Colton and he’s gone, it’s the greatest move ever made. You don’t know. I feel like I’m a talented enough talker and persuasive enough guy to make something like that happen. Had it have gone the other way, you’d be talking to somebody else and later be like, “Wow, Bill, what a move!” For me it didn’t work.

RNO: Who were the other four guys you thought you had on your side?

Bill: Jonas, Troy, Big Mike, and Jay. I figured I had Big Mike and Jay based off the fact that we were allegedly in the alliance and the three next to go – we weren’t misfits. In talking with Jonas and Troy, it really felt more like Tarzan and Colton were the ones calling the shots. I know Troy was loosely with me, Matt, and those guy. Me and Jonas were a lot more like brotherly. We made each other laugh, we hung out. I assumed he had my back as well. You can’t always count on loyalty when humans are taught to survive and preserve themselves. As long as none of their names was on the chopping block, they would have done whatever they needed to do to stay in the game.

RNO: What do you really think of Colton?

Bill: Ha! This is a hot-ticket item, the million-dollar question. I want to make it clear – I think he is a spoiled, inexperienced person who, based on lack of experience in this world, is very opinionated. Because of the fact that he is inexperienced, those opinions hold no merit.

I like him and I don’t think he’s a racist in any means. I think he’s just an inexperienced, ignorant person – that’s two totally different things. Not wanting to accept somebody who is poor, from a different walk of life, is just ignorant. The idea that you don’t want to have compassion or compromise with anyone who doesn’t fit in your world, that’s ignorant.

That’s what makes people so beautiful. I can be on an island with somebody who comes from a totally different place and I’m so interested that I want to hear about it and accept you for it. Here we are, looking each other in the eye. The fact that it disgusts you and doesn’t intrigue you, that’s weird.

RNO: You seem like an incredibly happy-go-lucky guy. How did you plan to use that on a show known for lying and backstabbing?

Bill: Jeff Probst put it really well in the beginning. I was likeable enough to go out there. I’ve been in this situation before as far as being in the military. When it became men vs. women, I was like, okay, I’ve been in troops of men in situations where you don’t know each other and come from different walks of life and have to come together for one goal.

There was no stress, this is easy. We hang out, we have fun. We’re in God’s paradise. I’d be the one person who wasn’t a stress case, who wasn’t freaking out, who was having fun – I’m a comedian, that’s what I do. I’ve been in a desert situation where everybody’s stressed out and I just made them laugh. I figured that’s what I’d get a chance to do on Survivor. Unfortunately, it didn’t get to fully come out. Yeah, I’m happy-go-lucky – I got to play around and goof off, that’s me, what I like to do.

RNO: I’m unfortunately being told we’re out of time, but is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Bill: Yes. Being on Survivor was one of the most amazing experiences. In today’s society, you’ll rarely get a chance to get pulled out of your life and put in a situation where there’s no cell phones and no media and all you have to do is rely on human interaction and yourself and the elements. This is a blessing. I’m so blessed that I’ve gotten a chance to do that. It changed my life dramatically when I got back. It made me realize how important the people in my life around me are.

RNO: Thanks again, Bill!

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David Bloomberg is the Editor of Reality News Online and has been covering Survivor since the very first season. He can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. You can also follow him on Twitter!

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