“The Men Couldn’t Think Clearly Enough”: An Interview with Survivor’s Rory

Rory made it through the tribal swap and through the female-dominated Yasur, only to be voted off immediately after the merge. In this interview with RealityNewsOnline, he explains what we didn’t see on our televisions, tells us what he really thinks of Ami, and reveals what he thinks the key mistake of the game was.

RealityNewsOnline: We saw on the show, and heard from a couple of the contestants voted out earlier, that when you were with the men you tended to spend a lot of time by yourself. Was there any particular reason for this and did you think about how it might affect you game-wise?

Rory: Well, I did spend quite a bit of time by myself or with small groups, but it was not my intention for it to be seen as a negative. For the most part I was looking for food or various items and I believe that I brought more food back to the camp than anyone else. Certainly there was not a lot of complaining when I brought back several days worth of oranges or other food.

Furthermore, when I was in camp at Yasur I did the exact same thing, constantly bringing back crabs, sugar cane, or plantains and it was never seen as a negative. This is just part of my personality and I have never believed that you needed eight or nine guys to all do the same thing at once. I never really thought that my activities would be seen as such a negative, but I guess being independent causes problems for some people.

RNO: When you had the various arguments with Sarge, did you guys talk about the vote before going to Tribal Council, or did you just rely on the fact that you had the strong alliance already built?

Rory: Typically, either Bubba or Sarge would decide who the alliance would vote against and then would tell me which way to go. It was never my personal decision to vote off Brook or J.P., in fact I wanted to vote for someone else each time, but was overruled. I realized that I was in a good alliance that allowed me to be more flexible, but I never intended to vote against my alliance. I think more was made of my relationship with Sarge than was necessary. Sarge is used to ordering 30-40 men around at a time and when he wants people to build or look for food he expects everyone to do it at the same time. I'm sure it was difficult for him to deal with someone as independent as me. But obviously our disagreements were not that significant because we always voted the same.

RNO: When you ended up on Yasur, did you and Bubba pretty much assume you were dead men, gamewise, or did you think you could break into the women's alliance and somehow make it through?

Rory: Judging from the contest in the dugouts when Bubba was seen making a sign to Chris, it's apparent that we were desperate. We hoped that the women would accept us, but we always knew that we were going to be voted off at the first opportunity. After Ami saw Bubba, she immediately made it known that we would not be welcomed as teammates. We knew we were leaving. After Tribal Council, I knew my only chance was to either break into the female alliance or win immunity. I decided to work my tail off and started bringing in food and firewood, and helped improve the shelter. Then I did well in the challenges and I managed to convince Ami and Leann that I was important enough to keep around, at least temporarily. I basically did anything I could, talking, promising, pleading, anything. There are not a lot of guys that can break into a female alliance, but I did. All I wanted to do was to make it to the merge, hoping that it would come soon.

Eventually, Ami decided that I was going to be voted off the day of the slingshot challenge and told me. At that point I knew if I didn't do something to win that challenge it would be my last night. Then it turned out to be a slingshot and I thought I might have a chance to win. Turns out I still remember how to shoot. I was so hyped-up afterwards that I accidentally broke the Immunity Idol.

RNO: How much of your anger after the Tribal Council in which Bubba was voted out was real, and how much did you fake as an attempt to save yourself?

Rory: That was entirely made-up on the spot. I hoped that I could make a statement to the women and show them that I really deserved to be on that team. It was just drama. I thought it was funny to be all angry and upset and I knew I was still gone, bur I wasn't too angry to go sleep under a blanket. My speech the following morning was a little much, but it was funny that the women all listened as I spoke of my remorse. I didn't think any of the women bought that drivel, but they must have because they voted out Lisa next.

RNO: You made several comments about how poorly Ami treated you. What else happened besides what we saw?

Rory: I found Ami to be way too domineering. She acts as if she isn't in control and making decisions, when the entire time she makes all of the decisions. Then she uses her 'honesty' to belittle and patronize you. I don't begrudge her being the foundation of a strong alliance or her wanting to hold a female alliance together, but I personally believe that she is a bit mean-spirited. She acted that way towards Bubba, Lisa, and me, and then she covers it up with a phony smile.