“I Think I Did Everything Perfect” – An Interview with Survivor: Fiji’s Dreamz

The day after the finale is always a busy one for Survivor finalists, and Dreamz is probably getting hit by tough questions more than most. I am no exception – I have questions, and I know readers do too. Here is what Dreamz had to say.

RealityNewsOnline: You said on the reunion show that you planned before you ever got out there. What kind of plans did you make?

Dreamz: I planned the whole thing out. You know how you look at shows and stuff, I looked at what kind of people I was going to align myself and how I was going to get by and how I was going to act like I didn’t know what going on.

RNO: How did they change once you were there?

Dreamz: When I got there, it was different people. Everybody was like, people were different. I was like I wanted to align myself with underdogs, but there was nobody who wanted to align with me. So I had to change from there. In the beginning, I only had Earl and Cassandra, and Earl was on a different tribe, so that was not good at all.

RNO: Getting into the questions you know you’ll be asked a lot, if you truly were playing the game from the moment you accepted Yau-Man’s deal, why is it that you kept talking – including in private confessionals – about how you would honor the deal and it showed what kind of person you were?

Dreamz: Because I thought by that time that I was sure I would get rid of him and it would be over with and I’d look like a good person. But it didn’t work out that way.

One time I was going to get him out when Alex was there, but Cassandra didn’t want to upset Earl and we let him go with that one. The next time he used his immunity idol, and that really messed up everything. Then he won immunity. So it only came down to one thing, to not be stupid and to keep playing the game.

RNO: So why did you cry at Tribal Council, rather than be happy with the fact that your plan had come together?

Dreamz: It was just like Earl said – when he looked so shocked he voted Yau-Man out. After being so close to somebody that I really looked up to, I really talked to him a lot, once you realize they’re gone, it was not sad, just, you know how it is. Like a person sending a daughter to college, it’s not a sad moment, just you know they gotta go.

RNO: When you were making the decision as to whether or not to honor the deal with Yau-Man, did you take into account the fact that the jury would certainly not let you win after breaking your word?

Dreamz: Yes, I was aware that I wasn’t going to win from the time I crossed my alliance. Because everybody on the jury was on the jury, starting from Rocky and Lisi, everybody was there because I put them there, except Stacy. I knew we had no chance from the merge, because I’d be going up against Yau-Man or Earl. Going against either of them, they could come back with words faster than I can.

RNO: Given that you knew you’d lose anyway, why not honor the deal?

Dreamz: Doing the show wasn’t about going with honor. People who know that know how to play the game. I left my honor at home. A show like that, I was prepared for that. I was like in the beginning we don’t have to lie yet. In the middle I put on my snakeskin boots and showed strategy. Then when I did it, everybody was shocked and astonished. So if I can’t get first, why not get second? There’s no need to lose with honor.

RNO: Did you think about what might happen post-Survivor, such as that now you will be known as the guy who broke his word whereas if you had kept your promise, you likely could have gone around the country doing motivational speaking and appearing on talk shows because of your honorable character?

Dreamz: I think I still got an opportunity. Anybody who realizes how to play the game, it’s just a game. I’m two different people. I wasn’t Dre but I was Dreamz on the show. People gotta understand that. If they don’t, there’s nothing I can do or say to change that. I can still help my community and the kids where I am. That’s good enough for me.

RNO: Do you think that taking something of real-world value, that is, a $60,000 truck, and not keeping your word puts it somewhat outside of just a game?

Dreamz: I knew that Yau-Man didn’t really need that truck. He gave that truck away as a strategist. He took a chance and his gamble failed. He got outsmarted by somebody he didn’t think could outsmart him. I’m sure it hurt him at the time and I’m nowhere near as smart as him. It just happened that way. In reality, everybody was going for money anyway.