“I Got a Little Too Comfortable”: An Interview with Survivor: Exile Island’s Ruth-Marie

What we saw of Ruth-Marie didn’t involve much proactive alliance-making. However, we know we don’t always get the whole truth in 44 minutes. Ruth-Marie sets the record straight here about her game play, and also discusses her thoughts on a variety of other questions.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Ruth-Marie, and thanks for taking the time to answer these questions for RealityNewsOnline readers. What was your original strategy coming into the game, and how did it change as you played?

Ruth-Marie: My original strategy was to stay flexible because I thought it would be a mistake to have a plan that didn’t allow me to change on a dime. Typically I get stronger as games go on but in this opportunity, I didn’t have the time to do that. We had to “game” pretty quickly with the four tribes of four people. I think that I formed my alliance with Cirie in probably an hour after we hit the beach and the same thing with Dan after the merge. In both cases, there wasn’t a lot of sitting around.

RNO: Given that we’re now down to one “older” woman in the game (I hate that term, by the way, since I’m older than both Melinda and Cirie!), how much of a factor do you think age plays in Survivor?

Ruth-Marie: I don’t think age in Survivor is a negative at all. It would be the same thing as saying someone who is 21 or 22 has an advantage. I think circumstances depends more on what tribe you are on and what people you are with but I don’t view age as a negative at all.

RNO: Considering the dire food situation your tribe was in, did the fact that Sally lost the fishing spear ever come up in discussions of who should be voted out?

Ruth-Marie: Prior to Misty’s departure, it certainly was discussed that Sally was going to be the one going home and part of the reason was due to the lost spear. In the game of Survivor, you are always looking for a reason to send people home. However, it was discussed that Misty “underperformed” a bit in the challenges that week therefore providing an opportunity for Sally to be saved.

RNO: Did you feel like you had any power at all within the tribe, or was it completely obvious that the decision was out of your hands?

Ruth-Marie: The decision with the young girls I didn’t feel was out of my hands and we were hoping to make it to the merge. I didn’t feel like there was a crack to overturn Terry’s decisions and he was the one ultimately calling the shots. It was in my best interest to stay with the original plan and make that work.

RNO: Looking back, what, if anything, do you think you could have done differently to change the outcome?

Ruth-Marie: The difference between Sally and I the last day and a half, she was slightly hungrier than me. And I broke the cardinal role of Survivor because I got a little too comfortable, especially with Terry being gone. It had nothing to do with laziness but I grew a bit more comfortable in the tribe. Possibly, I could have been working Nick as hard as Sally was working Austin because clearly she “outgamed” me with that decision.

RNO: What do you think of the rationalization that you only had a specific deal with Dan, not the whole alliance?

Ruth-Marie: I was never confused about that and neither was Dan or Nick. I think it would have been okay for Terry to say, “I changed my mind,” rather than say that we didn’t shake on it, which is a phrase that I hadn’t heard since the third grade.

RNO: Did you have an alliance with anyone on La Mina before your agreement with Dan this episode?

Ruth-Marie: I had an alliance with Dan within an hour of us hitting the beach. Before Misty’s outing, I had formed with this alliance with the four men and had personal conversations with Dan, Terry, and Nick.

RNO: How did your tribe stay so positive even when they had to vote people out?

Ruth-Marie: That was just the nature of the people on our tribe. I am certain that is how they behave in their real lives and there were no negative people on our tribe. They were the most positive group of people in general.

RNO: Did you have any idea that Terry had found the immunity idol?

Ruth-Marie: Yes. I was pretty sure that he had found it. Terry is the kind of person that when he did something special or unique, he liked to share that with everyone and though he didn’t say it outright, it was fairly obvious on his face.

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

Ruth-Marie: I just like to say it was the best experience that I’ve had in my life and I’ve had a lot of good experiences thus far. I was not expecting these people to have such an impact on my life in such a short amount of time. I would say that everyone who is cast in this game is remarkable. You definitely get this sense that you are in some special company.

RNO: Thanks again, Ruth-Marie!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Survivor: Exile Island Episode 4 articles:

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

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