“I Really Have Been Shocked the Last Couple Weeks” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Tocantins’ Debbie

CBS P.R. Guy: Hi, David, I have Debbie to talk to you.

RealityNewsOnline: I was hoping you’d have Coach!

Debbie: Hey!

RNO: I say that because it means he would have been voted off last night!

Debbie: Oh, that’s sweet. Thanks! That’s a good way to start an interview.

RNO: Well, thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline!

Debbie: Sure.

RNO: You said we started off well, but now I have to ask – What’s $40 plus $20?

Debbie: (Sarcastically) Okay, you’re hilarious, David. It’s $60. Let me tell you, when you’re starved, adding wasn’t the first thing in my brain. I wanted those french fries! I’d have given my whole bag of money for those fries.

CBS P.R. Guy: You almost did!

Debbie: (Sarcastically again) Thanks. But I know how to add, David.

RNO: Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Debbie: My strategy coming into the game was really to not take a leadership role immediately. It was to be myself – I love to have fun and I knew my social part of the game would be easy because I really do like people. I knew I would have a hard time if we had people who were difficult to get along with – we are lacking so much that it makes life at least bearable if you have people you like around you. I was going to lay back and see how the chips fell early. It was very evident at Timbira that Coach took a leadership role immediately. He was more out there and Brendan was more secretive. Coach, Tyson, and I formed an alliance within the first three days out there.

RNO: J.T. and Stephen seemed to have a huge amount of respect for your strategic game – what did you do in the time after the merge that made them fear you so much?

Debbie: I’ve thought about that myself. First of all, I was very well-liked by my tribe, they really did love me and I feel the same about them. Second of all, I was a physical threat and I did well in the challenges. Even at Tribal Council last week, Jeff made the statement asking, “How does it feel to be such a threat out here?” I was a physical threat and a social threat. Plus, I stepped up and started really playing the game. You already had three Timbira members of the jury and me making it towards the end, they knew the possibility of Timbira staying with a Timbira member was pretty strong.

RNO: You’ve somewhat answered this already, but having now seen the episode and those leading up to it, do you have a good understanding of why you were voted off?

Debbie: I do – I would have played the game differently in a lot of ways. I wouldn’t have been so strong in challenges. Honestly, there’s a part of this game that I really didn’t wrap my brain around. I’m a very competitive person and when Jeff would say go, I’d go all out. But really, I wish I’d have stepped back and not been as strong a player in the challenges.

RNO: Did you have any idea of all the scheming and planning being done by J.T. and Stephen?

Debbie: I had no idea. As a matter of fact, I really have been shocked the last couple weeks because Stephen out in the game came off as a follower of J.T. and didn’t say much. Now that I watch it, Stephen was really manipulating this game and we didn’t give him enough credit out there. Whenever any of us talked, we talked to J.T.

I knew when Tyson was voted out, my days were limited. I liked J.T. and Stephen a lot, but I didn’t show Stephen enough respect. If you notice last night, Stephen said, “I don’t think we need to get rid of Debbie yet.” With Erinn, we knew if we took her to the merge, she would jump ship. All Erinn had to do was hear Stephen say one thing about me and she was like, “Take her out,” so that didn’t surprise me.

RNO: You were with Coach longer than anybody. Can you explain how he could talk about how he’s never lied in the game when we saw him flat-out lie about the situation with Sierra last week?

Debbie: Right. You know, honestly, in his mind, I don’t think he thinks he lied. I don’t truly think he thinks he lied. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear me step up and admit to what I did. I said, “Yeah, we were checking out our options.” Coach was in there checking out our options too, but I really don’t think he honestly thinks he lied. I’ll man up and say I did – it’s a game, not a game of truth but a game of who can win a million dollars. I really don’t think Coach thinks he lied.

RNO: Why did you get so frustrated with Sierra in the discussion after the reward challenge last week?

Debbie: Because there was a lot of editing in that show. What you didn’t see was two days of stuff going down. Let’s just put it that way. Of manipulating, of arguing, of fits, there was a lot that wasn’t shown. I can take a lot but by then I’d had enough. I was like, I’m done, I’m done listening. Sierra and I have a relationship where we still call each other sisters today. It became a sister-mother-daughter relationship like I have with my own daughters where I’m like, “Stop – I don’t want to hear it anymore!” It wasn’t that I wanted to be mean to her, I had Just. Had. Enough. Sierra was determined to have her point heard out there for two days. It was enough for everybody. Sierra and my relationship was like sisters. We loved each other dearly but we also had our disagreements.