Wearing the Uniform Proudly: An Interview with Survivor’s Lill

Lill Morris was the third member of Morgan tribe to be voted off. She is memorable not only for being a hard worker, but also for the Boy Scouts uniform that she was wearing when dumped overboard, and thus had as her only clothing throughout the game. What were her plans, how did she end up on the outs with the core Morgan alliance, what did she think of Andrew’s leadership? All of this and more is answered in our interview with her!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Lill, and thanks for taking the time to answer these questions from RealityNewsOnline!

Lill Morris: Hello David Bloomberg! How good of you to give me the opportunity to express myself. I truly appreciate the opportunity.

RNO: In the first couple days, you had to deal with the surprise of being sent overboard, the disorganization at the village and your tribal location, and the election of Andrew as leader. What was going through your mind during these early days?

Lill: I had spent hours figuring out what would be the best and most useful clothing and items they were saying I could use. I had a pair of silk pants that could be used in the night for protection against cold and then turned into shorts during the day. They were also quick to dry when wet. I knew I would become homesick so my luxury item was pictures and notes from home to keep me dreaming and company. As you saw, David, none of this was used.

I remember sitting there in disbelief and trying to think of my next step. This was a no choice situation. Jump over and swim, girlfriend!

We were disorganized in the village. We had money left to spend and we needed more than just two bags of food to feed eight people. Everyone was in to big of a hurry to get to the island to take stock of everything we had. Ryan Shoulders and I tried to tell them that we had money left. Not only were we fighting with the island people but we started out on the wrong foot with a few of us.

RNO: How did you end up being friendly only (it seemed) with Ryan S. and not really with any of the others?

Lill: I really didn't fit in with anyone there. Ryan tried to bond with the guys but Andrew seemed to have it out unjustifiably for him. [Editor’s Note: Ryan echoed these sentiments in his interview with us.] I know that Ryan was my only true friend on this island and I missed him badly when he left. I wasn't the cute young girls or the beefcake boys. I was just a person who was willing to work hard but also try and keep my self-respect.

RNO: Did you ever approach any of the others in an attempt to form an alliance?

Lill: Nicole tried to talk to me about getting rid of T. She was the only one who talked to me in the beginning besides Ryan. But as you can see, it didn't work out. Not a lot of attention was directed to me. I wasn't in the position to demand anyone to talk to me or listen to my ideas.

RNO: Was it part of your plan to keep the scout uniform for the adventure, or would have you selected other clothing?

Lill: As I explained before, I had other clothing selected, including CoolMax clothing. Light weight, easy to dry and warm when needed. None of it used.

I'm very proud of my uniform. I don't care what people say about it, the Boy Scouts, or me being in Scouting. If I cared what people had said 12 years ago, this Troop wouldn't have started. I would have quit long ago with people telling me that women shouldn't be in Boy Scouts. I like what Scouting represents and what I can do for Scouting.

Some women play cards, tennis, shop, or whatever as their pastime. I use my spare time to help our community with its young people. I love working with teenagers. I love to listen to them, dance and laugh with them and I'm good at dealing with their problems. God has given me the ability to relate to teens of all ages. I'm blessed to be able to do this. I'm not judgmental and I select my grips. Keep in mind that I'm not always right but I try hard.

RNO: We saw that you tried to go fishing but of all the complaints we heard from Morgan, food wasn't mentioned that much – how was Morgan doing on the food side?

Lill: I went fishing with the last fishhook. Before that, two other fishhooks were lost but you didn't hear anything about that. We had no protein in the time out there other than some oysters or a few crabs. About two oysters each person during the nine days. I said a prayer and started out early. I told the tribe this is what I was going to do the night before. I knew little about fishing but all that I hear was that fish bite before it gets really hot. So, early in the morning, I left everyone sleeping and started out.

I thought about not telling anyone about the hook but being the honest person I was, I confessed before I was jumped on. I don't believe anyone would have noticed the hook missing because there was little use of the fishing gear. We had a spear but no one knew how to use it.

The food we got from the village was a bag of rice and a bag of beans. When I left, there was little of either one. I remember the guys using the bags as pillows during the night. Not wise. We had one pineapple and several coconuts. Not a lot of food for eight people.