Surviving Hunter's 'Early Show' Interview

Usually, the hardest thing to survive about Early Show interviews with former Survivor contestants is boredom. The interviews rarely result in any new or meaningful insight into the show. But Hunter Ellis' interview was a bit more entertaining, perhaps because his ouster was surprising (to most of us, anyway).

In between the fawning of Jane Clayson and the abrasiveness of Bryant Gumbel, Hunter conducted himself like the dignified person he was on the show. Clayson starts out telling him how upset she was that he's gone. Ellis says he was shocked as well, to which Gumbel replies in a cocky and argumentative tone, "C'mon, you had to see some of it coming." Ellis says while he knew he and Gina were in trouble, he still didn't think he'd go this early, because they still could've used him. (Note to Gumbel: There's a difference between asking tough questions and conducting a cross-examination).

Clayson continues her hero-worship of the ex-Navy pilot by saying, "You were the only one who knew what you were doing." Hunter plays along and, reiterating some of his closing comments, and saying he still thinks they're knuckleheads, and he HAS let them hear about it!

Asked about Sean, he described the Harlem native as "Angry." And of course, a knucklehead. Ellis says that Sean got upset if you asked him to do something, but he also got upset if YOU were doing something. Sean reminds me of co-worker I had trouble with back in my traffic reporters days. My job was to drive to accident scenes and report on road conditions. She caught me as I was about to hit the road, and was incensed that I had the gall to go out without her telling me where to go. Weeks later, I was waiting for her to tell me where to go, and she said in a rude voice, 'What are you doing standing there? You're just supposed to go!" Obviously, the issue was, she was just crabby and had to have something to complain about.

So it is with the remaining "Sambaramus." Except of course, Gina. But I digress. Ellis goes on to say that Sean was upset when they woke him up to ask him to work, and Sarah was upset when they DIDN'T wake her up to ask her to work. That left him not knowing WHAT to do. Try finding them jobs as traffic reporters, Hunter.

Then there's Rob, who Ellis describes as "Definitely a knucklehead." He says the main conflict between himself and the construction worker was a difference in game strategy. He said he wanted to build a strong team, and keep everyone together, while Rob wanted to garner and control as many votes as he could.

As for Sarah, he informs us she was simply along for the ride with Rob. In what shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has seen any of the first three episodes, he says the top-heavy account manager was there to sit on the beach, and looked at this as a vacation.

Showing he has class, Ellis describes the challenges as awesome, and really seems grateful for the experience. But he also says he was looking forward to some of the individual challenges. If there were any justice, he'd have been around for them.

He goes on to say he wasn't PLANNING to be the tribe's "alpha male," but realized he knew how to do a lot of the things that needed to be done, and the others didn't. Ellis described how he subtly tried to SUGGEST ways to do things, so as not to be pushy.

Asked if he watched previous editions of the show, he said the Outback edition made a particularly strong impression on him, and made him want to build a strong team. But in the end, it was the difference in game strategies (not to mention IQs) that did him in.

Clayson subsequently gets to the point about his relationship with Gina: What was the nature of the sparks between them? Again, Ellis replies with class. The viewers learn that while they live three time zones apart, they're still great friends, and probably always will be.

Before his time is up, Hunter gets in one of the great parting shots of all time. He states that he hasn't talked to his former Navy buddies since returning, but after the latest episode, the four who voted against him should lock their doors and keep the light out, because he's not responsible for their actions. This reminds me of Rudy saying he'd put "ops" out on Richard if the eventual winner betrayed their "Final Two" agreement. Somehow, I don't think I want to get on the bad side of a bunch of Navy SEALs and pilots.

While you can tell Ellis doesn't think much of his former tribemates, he got his point across in a manner that is entertaining and to the point, yet classy.

Ken Kellam lives in Dallas, Texas, in a condo he has recently started sharing with Luke, an Orange Tabby. Luke has filed for adoption.

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