“I’m a Talker” – An Interview with Survivor: Cook Islands’ Cao Boi

RNO: When you stumbled on the other camp, did you really think they would give you anything that you asked for?

Cao Boi: When I first came out of the woods, I thought I ran into a bunch of native Cook Islanders. They’ve gotten tan and sunburned. All is saw was eyeballs around a camp. My machete was so dull and I saw their whetstone, so right away we asked if we could use it.

I expect people to be a little more generous. And if you can’t climb trees, we’ll do it and share with you. We invited them to come over for a potluck, about half the tribe was in favor of it. But people are too serious or too worried for whatever reason they have. In my life, the people around me are very generous people. Love your enemy.

RNO: Did you realize that Yul was in an alliance with Jonathan and Candice?

Cao Boi: I had a suspicion, but I didn’t have any other way to go. I followed my dream. I wasn’t going to be afraid and keep my mouth shut. In my dream there was an Asian person involved. I thought I was reading too much into that. I brushed it aside. That would have been awesome. First, we would have flushed the immunity idol, and if they didn’t have it, they would have had a duel – that would have been awesome, great for the show.

RNO: Why did you join with Yul, Jonathan, and Becky to vote out Cecilia instead of going after Becky like you and Jessica originally planned?

Cao Boi: Yul played the race card with me. He approached me and said Becky is strong and he wants to see the Puka tribe come together to the merge. He said he’d watch my back and hoped I’d watch his. He said we gotta stick together. Then I looked at the whole tribe’s physical makeup and said we need different things [strong people, light people, etc.]. I thought Becky would be good for challenges in terms of being light. I felt I made the right decision. I observed Cecilia and she was not feeling very well and adapting to the environment. We went to the beach and she asked me who was being voted out and I was honest with her. We had a little Tribal Council before Tribal Council and told her. It was not a surprise to her. Everybody was involved. I believe I made the right decision for myself in saving Becky – I think in terms of the tribe.

RNO: If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?

Cao Boi: I would trust my gut instincts more. I have been around, I’m very experienced with people, I know them better than they know themselves in many ways. But at times I was too naïve in expecting everybody to be truthful and honest and fair. In my life, it always worked out. But here, you only have 39 days. Sometimes karma doesn’t have 39 days to catch up to them – it may take 39 years! I would prepare even more physically and harden myself. If I have a chance to play again, they’d better watch out. I’d be not as naïve.

RNO: Do you feel you were portrayed accurately?

Cao Boi: Yes and no. I’m a talker, I have a lot to tell people. Sometimes you ask me a question and I give you a discourse. And I liked the editing, I think they really portrayed me as an upstanding person and it was time to go. I didn’t stay long enough to get ugly and get involved in everybody else’s drama. Basically I preserved my integrity.

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

Cao Boi: It was a wonderful adventure and I think more people should look at it as an adventure rather than a million dollars. The million dolls will take care of itself if you do your job right. I would hope that the Asian-Americans get more involved with these mainstream society [types of things] instead of distancing themselves. I think it’s a wonderful show.

RNO: Thanks, Cao Boi!

Now that you’ve read my interview with Cao Boi, make sure to click over to my interview with Cristina as well!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Cook Islands articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

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

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recaps and other info on this show at the Survivor: Cook Islands page, and take a look at our The Amazing Race 8 page and our Apprentice: Martha Stewart page. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about Survivor, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor Fever!