“I Stepped Down Thinking I Was Safe” – Reality News Online’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: One World’s Jay

Reality News Online: Hi, Jay, and thanks for talking to Reality News Online today.

Jay: Hello.

RNO: What did you think when you found out the original tribes were going to be split men vs. women?

Jay: That was the biggest shocker of the game for me. I didn’t want that and I definitely didn’t see it coming.

RNO: In this week’s episode, you dropped out of the immunity challenge for food. Why did you feel so safe even after seeing two men leave in a row?

Jay: Well, just going back to my new Salani alliance, I really felt like they were going to stick with this whole plan of sending a girl home. I think I had it out for Alicia more than anybody.

I stepped down thinking I was safe – looking in the future. And that was my problem. I should have never thought past that night’s vote.

RNO: What did you think when you found out that Troy had the immunity idol – he hadn’t told you that before.

Jay: Me and Troy had always talked about if somebody found an idol, he would be the one to tell me or I’d tell him and we’d figure out how to use it for us to stay as long as possible. But he told me at such a last minute’s notice, I was thinking, “Well, great. This screws everything up because the votes are going for him.” The last-minute notice just sort of jacked up everything.

RNO: Then you told Kim about Troy’s having the idol. Do you think that was a mistake?

Jay: Even if I wouldn’t have, I don’t think there were enough votes to send anybody else home. I guess the remaining votes probably still would have been against me. But I did that because I thought if I did, she would see that I really was trying to work with them. I knew they were going to go after Troy sometime. I told them that I would help them do that. So I just figured we’d get his idol out of play and then we’d get him next time.

RNO: When did you get worried you might be in trouble at the coming Tribal Council? You seemed pretty confident for most of the episode.

Jay: I don’t know. I woke up with an eerie feeling that day, but still I felt safe for some reason – long enough to step down. Literally, it seemed like everything hit the fan right before we left for Tribal Council. It seemed like going to Tribal Council nobody knew what was going to happen.

RNO: Several of the previous contestants we’ve interviewed have described you as “wishy-washy” in regards to your strategy and alliances. How do you respond to that?

Jay: In Survivor, of course I’m not going to have one strategy. My strategy was to come in and be flexible and to try to lay low as best as possible. I mean, wishy-washy… I definitely had to go against some plans early on because I was in the bottom three of the guys.

RNO: Is that why you decided to switch from the all-male alliance to the new Salani alliance even though you had only been in the new tribe for a very short time?

Jay: Yeah. Anybody who wants to send their own player home after they win immunity, I’m not going to trust them for anything. I mean, that was super retarded. Just looking at Tarzan, you never knew which way he was going to vote or where his head was at. The all male alliance was impossible for me to go with.

RNO: Why did every one of the men agree to go to Tribal Council after winning immunity – even the guys like you who were in the minority alliance? If even one of you had said no, it wouldn’t have happened.

Jay: Literally, I have no clue. I don’t know why everyone was so gung ho about it. I voiced my opinion. I hated the decision, but I seemed to be the only one later on and I was already at the bottom [of the tribe hierarchy].

RNO: We saw Leif vote for Alicia last night. Do you know where Leif stands in the game? It seems like he doesn’t get talked about as a voting factor too much.

Jay: I think, at that point, he seemed like a swing vote. Whoever talked to him would tell him who to vote for. That seemed to be his plan.

RNO: How did you feel watching the episode last night and seeing how confident you were?

Jay: Looking back, everything’s a lot clearer on this side. Honestly, I was disgusted to see how it all played out. But at the time I chose to trust those girls.

RNO: You seemed to think Troyzan’s concerns that the women were voting the men out were just paranoia – even after they voted fellow new Salani member Mike out. Why was that?

Jay: I don’t know. I think then I just committed myself to trust Kim and Chelsea. I didn’t like the decision to send Mike home. Troy didn’t like Mike early on in the game.

RNO: What surprised you most about Survivor?

Jay: Obviously, the whole guys vs. girls tribes. I think I had mentally prepared for it to be extremely physically tough. I guess the biggest surprise would be how crazy the paranoia is and how little sleep you get because of everybody running around and how much talking on the side there is. It seems like every time you turn around, somebody’s leaving to go talk to somebody.

RNO: Is there anything you saw watching the show on TV that really shocked or surprised you?

Jay: I guess seeing Tarzan and Jonas go at it and seeing that side of them was really hilarious. But I knew he was crazy, so it wasn’t as surprising as seeing Kim planning to call me out and get everyone to vote for me – a nice little blindside surprise.

RNO: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers about yourself or your experiences in the game?

Jay: I consider myself honored and blessed to have had the opportunity to be one of just under 400 people to have ever played the game of Survivor. For me it was a complete positive. I have no hard feelings for anybody. I have nothing but love for my fellow castmates. I had a blast and I’d do it all over again. It was awesome.

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