“It Would Have Been Disastrous If I Won” – An Interview with Survivor: China’s Runner-Up, Courtney

On Survivor, we saw Courtney shooting off her mouth quite a bit. But Courtney was, quite honestly, a lot of fun to talk to. As she said at one part of our discussion when I wasn’t typing as part of the interview, “I’m not a heinous bitch all the time!” As you might expect, she has plenty to say about various aspects of her time on the show, so let’s get to it!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Courtney, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline! Starting at the beginning, you indicated that you really didn’t have much of a strategy coming into the game. What was your plan at the beginning?

Courtney: My plan at the beginning was that – it sort of fell into my lap and I was convinced to do it. I thought I’d have a three-day journey and would then get a lovely tour of China. It didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be the first one kicked off.

RNO: what kind of strategy did you adopt once you got into the game?

Courtney: I remember on Day 9 when they ended up voting out Leslie instead of me, I was like, “This is interesting.” I put two and two together and [figured out] it was that little Todd. I knew I was useful to him and it was good to know. After nine days in the jungle, your spirit gets broken and you accept it. I stopped fighting to leave. I really am the opposite of most normal people in this game.

RNO: At final Tribal Council, Todd told Jaime you shouldn’t win because you didn’t want to be there in the first place. What did he mean by that?

Courtney: Todd and Amanda were lifelong fans and I had never seen the show prior to going on it. I was asked and pursued to be on it. So that was a little thorn in everyone’s side. That really carries a lot of weight – a lot of people are fans before they become contestants. The fact that I didn’t share that with obviously someone as passionate about the game, like Todd, was a big problem that I didn’t have that. I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with him. My point at Tribal Council was that I’m a different player. Todd and Amanda were similar, I come from a totally different side. I’m not going to candy coat it, this is the way I played and I’m still here too.

RNO: You weren’t going to candy coat it?

Courtney: I know, amazing!

RNO: In response to Jaime’s question, you almost said she should just give her vote to Todd. Why didn’t you take the opportunity to say something negative about him?

Courtney: Because I really like Todd. He was my best friend in the game. I thought he deserved to win. I didn’t put myself on that same playing field. I think I spoke well for myself and earned second place above Amanda. But it would have been disastrous if I won – people would have hated it.

Jaime asked that question because she didn’t know any of us – we knew her for one day. And we were the main people angling to get her out. So she did the general thing to stir up trouble. I thought, “This is foolish and I’m not going to trash these people.” Todd did me a good turn and was a huge reason I made it that far. I’m not going to hate him for that. [What am I going to say?] “Todd’s mean and took me with him to the top”?

Amanda was always very nice. She took things to heart and I didn’t want to say anything bad about her – just because Jaime said, “Dance,” doesn’t mean I have to dance.

RNO: Jeff Probst asked last night if you regretted your comments about Denise, and you said you did. Are there other comments you made over the course of the game that you regret?

Courtney: I think there’s always going to be things you regret if you’re a person who just throws things out there. I talk $#!t 24/7. The editors make you look like whatever they want. I have a horribly sarcastic mean sense of humor and it doesn’t translate well on primetime television. Of course I feel bad, we all watched that together and there was a collective gasp. I’m a jerk, but I’m a jerk to everybody. I ripped on everyone mercilessly. It’s sad they chose to portray it that way. They showed Denise as a saint and I am the cutthroat bitch. I know what I’m like and I know what role I was put on there to play.

RNO: On last night’s episode, you seemed to agree with Amanda to vote however she was voting. Would you have turned on Todd if she had done so?

Courtney: I actually would have. Amanda and I, neither of us really trusted Todd. I thought he might screw over one of us because he thought he should. He played a classic game, following the right steps. Among the steps to being Survivor guy is to betray your best friend. He said stuff about all of us – he’s Todd, he talks out of both sides of his mouth at all times.

She thought Denise would be better. I thought Todd deserved to be there. I argued for Todd and she probably hates me for it (laughs), but I would have voted with her, though it would have bothered me. I’m not retarded, if the girl wearing the necklace asks what you think, I think what you think right now. Plus then she looks like the jerk for letting Todd stay in the game.