“Damn, I’m Screwed” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Gabon’s Dan

Dan seems to be a genuinely nice guy who got stuck in a tribe with some folks who perhaps weren’t so nice. Indeed, as you’ll see here, he is not terribly upset that Corinne didn’t like him. To find out what else he has to say, read on. And with the double-elimination, my usual Survivor interview was also doubled up, with both of them in the room together. So don’t be surprised when you see a few biting comments from Ace as well.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Dan, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline! Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Dan: My strategy coming into the game was like Ace said, to remain fluid. I don’t think you can come in with a set strategy, there are too many variables to the game.

I did want to try to be as friendly to the people in the game as possible. But I wanted to specifically be more friendly to people that I didn’t necessarily like. I knew there would be people in the game I’d have a difficult time with, there are always a few people [on Survivor] who you wonder how they were brought up. I didn’t want to let it get to me and [wanted to] try to include them and make them feel comfortable as much as possible.

RNO: Did you accomplish that?

Dan: I didn’t. I wouldn’t be sitting here if I did. It’s difficult out there when you get to Day 14, 15, 16 and you can’t get away from these people. It got to me. I think in the beginning I did it by keeping my mouth shut. A lot of times when GC was focused on, I kind of bit my tongue. That kind of came out in the first five or six days, but Day 17, 18, 19 I found it really difficult and I think that was part of the reason I was voted out.

RNO: What led to your conversation with Corinne and Marcus about you feeling insecure?

Dan: Marcus is an interesting guy. We would have these talks – he would come back from a challenge or whatever we were doing and say, “I’m really worried that the Fang members are going to merge with the old Fang members.” We had to spend like an hour teetering towards his concerns. I would say, “What about us? There are four of you and only three of us,” and he would brush it off. He would say, “I don’t know how you’re going to deal with that.” That definitely bothered me. Had he made an effort to kind of be aware how other people were feeling, I think our relationship would be different.

Ace: (Upon returning after having temporarily left the room) You must be talking about Marcus, but it’s true about all three.

RNO: What did you expect to gain from that discussion?

Dan: I honestly thought that they would see me as a little more genuine, a little more human. I didn’t really use my head too much towards the end of the game. I sort of tried to relax and found it difficult to relax. Maybe that conversation wasn’t the most beneficial but I needed to address that concern. When there’s something bothering me, the best way to deal with it is to talk about it.

Judging from the food [situation] – if he had come to me and said, “You’re eating too much,” I’d have apologized. The communication is lacking in this game, which is surprising because you spend so much time together.

RNO: What did you think of Corinne’s private reaction to the camera?

Dan: No, I was never overweight. And Corinne – the best way I can say it and try to remain with some class (Ace laughs in the background) is if Corinne likes you, you probably have some issues too. I’m glad she doesn’t like me. But that specific comment… I just found it funny that a self-described bitch – she goes beyond that, “bitchy” is putting it lightly – says I’m socially inept. It’s funny to me.

Ace: Definitely a case of don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.

Dan: Agreed. I’m sure as the game goes on, you’ll see what I mean.

RNO: You mentioned the food situation. Were you surprised to find out some of your tribemates thought you were eating too much?

Dan: Absolutely. I was counting – I don’t know if this was before or after they noticed. We cooked such a small amount, that it’s impossible to have a significant amount more than anybody else, maybe I had two or three more spoonfuls.

At one point, it couldn’t have been too long after they noticed, I was actively watching how much Marcus took and I was having the exact same amount. Despite what Jeff [Probst] said in one of his blog entries, I wasn’t completely indifferent to how food can affect relationships. But when you think about the fact that Corinne followed Marcus all the time and she needs to focus negative energy on somebody, she’s not going to notice how much Marcus ate.

I was surprised. In addition, I actually gave away some of my food from the challenge last night to the Randy and when we cooked the turtle, I declined some of the turtle. But I do love food, I really do. I could have eaten too much.