“I Didn’t Do Enough Politicking” – An Interview with Survivor: Cook Islands’ Ozzy

Ozzy missed winning a million dollars by a single vote – and he even has some ideas about what he could have done differently to get it. In this interview, he talks about his strategy, what he did right, and where he went just a little wrong. Read on to see what he has to say.

RealityNewsOnline: What was your strategy coming into the game?

Ozzy: My strategy was basically to be the top provider and to let that sink in at an early stage in the game where, if there was any thought of voting me off, people would feel the pangs in the stomachs and realize where their sustenance was coming from. Once you make it to the merge, it becomes individual so you have to win the challenges. I probably screwed up a bit in my strategy in that I didn’t do enough politicking and did too much fishing.

RNO: And what was your specific strategy going in front of the jury?

Ozzy: I just really was trying to get my message across. The problem was I didn’t have any of my original tribe on the jury and most of the people there I didn’t have any relationship with. I wanted to be as true and honest as possible and try to show them I embraced the game with an open heart and open mind and I really played as hard as I possibly could. It was so hard because Yul is such a strong competitor in the social aspect. Like I said, I think I spent a little too much time doing all the classic survival things and not making sure I had that one extra vote.

RNO: Do you actually know who voted for you?

Ozzy: Yul and I have talked about it. I’m not 100% on a few people. I’m pretty much sure I know who voted for who. I believe I got Parvati, Nate, Rebecca, and Jenny. Rebecca and Jenny are two I had no contact with except when we rowed to their camp with Cao Boi and Jessica. That was the only experience I had with them. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get Sundra’s vote or Candice’s vote. I though Sundra and I might have had a little more connection. I’m not sure she didn’t vote for me but I’m fairly sure she didn’t. Just a little bit of a bummer. I guess it’s a $900,000 bummer.

RNO: You’ve had a lot of time to think about it – what did you expect as the final outcome?

Ozzy: I honestly felt I was not as eloquent in my speech to the jury and most of the people, I had no relationship with them. They had to go off what they had heard or saw at challenges. Yul is an incredibly intellectual guy and he has a good amount of experience [speaking to juries], being a lawyer. He had the edge and he’s a great guy and he deserves it. I don’t really regret anything I did besides not spending in the critical last few days – I had an opportunity to maybe sway Adam’s vote or someone else’s vote. It comes down to one person making all the difference in the world. Maybe it was just karma and that’s my fate.

RNO: Did you realize just how seriously your allies were considering voting you out at final six and five if you hadn’t won immunity?

Ozzy: Yeah, I was not that naïve. I know the game is for a lot of money and I played in a way that of course I’m going to be seen as a giant threat, and we all understood it was a game. We wanted to make the Aitu four the top four and that’s what I was going for. I could have, at many different junctures, stabbed them in the back first. But I decided to play the nice guy’s game, and in that case nice guys do finish last. I never entertained the idea as much as I should have of doing something traitorous and backstabbing. But I wanted to see us four as the top four.

What it really came down to was Adam decided to vote for Yul based on he had a huge dislike for Jonathan, and us as a four knew Yul’s plan was trying to get Jonathan to swing. We all decided we were going to keep Jonathan for only one or two votes. Adam approached Yul and said he’d vote for Yul if Yul would get rid of Jonathan. He said yeah, of course, where we already had decided as a four. So Adam felt like he had to give Yul his vote.

RNO: Looking back now, what do you think you could have done differently to get one more vote?

Ozzy: Specifically, there was one day when Jonathan had caught a bunch of fish and the day before Adam and the others had called him names, and Jonathan decided he didn’t want to share. That really upset the others and I didn’t play my cards as well as I could have, and I could have been more subtle in showing them I was on their side. I was blamed a bit for that as well as Jonathan, as we were both the guys who would go out and go fishing. Tempers flared and I lost my cool and talked back to Candice, and that was another thing that [may have] made her decide not to vote for me.

RNO: What do you think of how you came across on the show?

Ozzy: I have to hand it to the editors, to make us look good is a feat in and of itself. I felt I was portrayed in a good light. I wish there had been more footage of my fishing and doing all the crazy things I did. There was one day I decided to cross the reef and jump into the ocean. That’s very dangerous to do but I was feeling adventurous that day. It was incredibly beautiful. The whole experience was absolutely amazing and I grew as a person more than I would have ever thought possible. That’s more important to me than the million dollars. Just being able to go out and play the way I did, I feel blessed to have made it as far as I did.

RNO: About how long did it actually take for you to solve the compass puzzle?

Ozzy: I don’t know. I’ve heard speculation it was about 25 minutes, but I’m not sure. I’d be interested to find out because I heard that Jeff [Probst] didn’t finish it in less than half an hour. I was happy to prove I’m not just a brainless athlete who’s only good at the physical challenges, but I have a brain as well. It’s not Harvard- or Stanford-educated, but I have one too.

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

Ozzy: Just that it was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I don’t know, but I feel like everybody would say that. It went from being a childhood hobby – reading Robinson Crusoe and being fascinated with that event happening in somebody’s life, being taken out of civilization and put back into nature and I fell in love with that idea. It was an amazing thing to take that hobby and then this opportunity came and basically came back and changed my life in an amazing and positive way. I want to thank everybody who was involved in the opportunity.

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.

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