“I Figured I Would Be a Threat”: An Interview with Survivor: Exile Island’s Tina

Tina was the type of Survivor player that nobody can believe went out first. Did she have any inklings that it might happen? Why didn’t she tell her tribemates her reasons for going off alone? And did she do anything to try to save herself? Tina answers these questions and more in this RealityNewsOnline interview.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Tina, and thanks for taking the time to answer these questions for RealityNewsOnline’s readers. I’d like to begin by passing along my sympathies for the tragedy you endured. In light of this, what made you decide to go forward with Survivor?

Tina: I had already put so much effort into being selected and with my son Charlie gone, I had felt like I had started it and I wanted to finish it.

RNO: You were obviously in a very personal situation and wanted to be alone at times, but did you consider mentioning to your tribemates why you needed this time for yourself?

Tina: I didn’t know them well enough to share this personal loss that early in the game and I didn’t want Charlie’s death to be a factor. This information is probably something I would have shared later after relationships were built.

RNO: Considering your background and experience in the outdoors, did it ever occur to you that you’d be the first person voted out?

Tina: Yes. I figured I would be a threat.

RNO: In past Survivors, the person who steps up as leader so early in the game has often found themselves on the chopping block. Why did you assume the leadership role so soon?

Tina: I really didn’t feel like I was taking the leadership role. They didn’t have the skills necessary and I didn’t want to go without fire, water, and shelter. I wasn’t going to sit-back and pretend like I couldn’t do it to further myself in the game. I wanted the essentials for comfort.

RNO: We saw a lot of Cirie talking to Melinda and Ruth-Marie, but nothing of you doing so – did you talk to any of your tribemates about the vote before Tribal Council in an attempt to make alliances?

Tina: No.

RNO: Did you agree with the claims of your tribemates that they worked hard, just on different tasks than you?

Tina: No.

RNO: Did people think Misty had actually found the hidden immunity idol?

Tina: She alluded to it.

RNO: Your tribe seemed to become paralyzed in the immunity challenge – what happened?

Tina: The puzzle. When I walked on to the beach and saw the challenge, I thought “I hate puzzles!” Give me something heavy to lift, give me an ocean to swim across, make me run around the island 100x but NO PUZZLES!

RNO: Do you think there was anything you could have done differently to turn the vote the other way – if so, what?

Tina: I could have “not been” myself. I would have had to have faked who I was.

RNO: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers about your time on Survivor?

Tina: I never got hungry which I thought I would. And the smell of the camp is never portrayed over TV. Drinking the water was like drinking burnt dirty water and tasted terrible. I was surprised that it only took three days to get bitten everywhere on my body and the bites lasted a LONG time. Although the shelter provided us cover from the rain, it was a really hard bumpy surface to sleep on - -very uncomfortable. And I have no regrets.

RNO: Thanks again, Tina!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Survivor: Exile Island Episode 1 articles:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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