Surviving the Cook Islands Reunion: Breaking Stereotypes

As soon as the finale has ended, it’s time for the reunion to begin. All 20 players are reunited and we begin by seeing some of Yul’s greatest moments on the show – from finding the hidden immunity idol to blackmailing Jonathan with it (for which he received a Reality TV Hall of Fame Moment).

Yul looks like he can’t believe it and gives Ozzy a little hug. Probst says he has to acknowledge both of them, with all due respect to Becky, for dominating the game. They deserved to be in the final two and it’s the first time he’s ever felt bad that somebody didn’t win. That is, he’s happy Yul won, but it was so evenly matched.

Probst says Yul did so many things right to keep himself in power. How big was finding the idol? Yul says it was huge – there’s a lot of luck involved in the game and he was sent to Exile Island at the right time. The key to winning is maximizing the good luck and negating the bad. He is happy with how he used the idol to change the whole game.

What was Yul’s first reaction to the mutiny? “We’re screwed!” He didn’t realize at the time just how amazing Ozzy was and he thought the game was over.

So, Candice, why mutiny? Candice says she had a chance to change her fate in the game. It was a chance and she thought they could make it to the end. Probst notes that you do have to make big moves in the game.

What was it about the four Aitus that bonded them? Sundra says it was the luck of having four great people together who have a similar objective – playing the game with integrity. It was the right people.

Probst goes back to Yul to ask how he lured Jonathan back. He says that Yul was constantly running numbers and percentages in the game, and wonders if that’s what he used on Jonathan. Yul says he knew Jonathan was a very rational player a smart guy. So he told him that probability-wise, if Jonathan didn’t flip, they would be able to execute a strategy by which Jonathan would be out within the next two votes. He also was afraid Jonathan might lie to him and say he was going with them but not. So he told Jonathan the only reason he hadn’t been voted out of by his tribe was they thought he had the idol – so if they ever found out he didn’t have the idol, he’d be booted.

Probst says that was one turning point, but then, amazingly, Yul used the voting out of Jonathan as a way to help win the game. He says Adam was instrumental in that and Probst notes that Adam told Yul if he voted Jonathan out before him or Parvati, he would get Adam’s vote in the end. Adam agrees and says he would have voted for Ozzy otherwise, and he did keep his word.

Ozzy is like, “whoa, man.” Heh. Probst asks if he knew about that and Ozzy says Adam did mention something about that, but Adam probably didn’t realize it wasn’t solely Yul’s decision. The whole foursome had made that decision already, so he didn’t know about the deal. Ozzy shakes his head and says it’s a little too late, he guesses. Probst uses this opportunity to give Yul more credit for playing everybody in subtle ways.

Probst says when he was out on the show, he saw Becky as a tagalong. When he was watching the show and saw more of what went on at camp, he realized Becky was with Yul in a lot of the decisions. Yul says she was an incredibly strong player and even watching it you don’t realize all the subtle moves she made. She was a partner in everything they did.

He says at some point, people started calling him the puppetmaster, and he tried to argue against it because he liked to work with the group. But he realized they were going to think he was BSing them so he used it to his advantage. But she was with him every step of the way.

So is it a little frustrating, knowing how instrumental she was, that Becky will probably be remembered for not being able to start fire? Becky says they practiced and were both really nervous and competing as friends.

Probst asks if Becky and Yul were ever romantic. Becky says they were both very game-focused and their best chances were to stay aligned. They didn’t cross that line. Did it enter her mind? No.

And then there is the other side of Yul, who appeared in People magazine’s sexiest man issue. He looks embarrassed as Probst asks him if he’s getting dates (recall that Yul said in the pole hanging challenge that he’d never get a date again). Yul says when he heard about the magazine, he thought it was a practical joke. He thinks it’s a little silly but he appreciates it and thinks his mom is happy because she wants him to get married and thinks this could help.

Probst says that when Yul, Ozzy, and Parvati were naked in the hot tub, Yul was there with two uninhibited people and he couldn’t tell if Yul was thinking it was a great moment or his worst nightmare. Yul laughs and says it was more the latter – he wanted to get outta there but he didn’t want to leave them alone. He actually waited until Ozzy fell asleep first that night before turning in himself.