“They Do Love Me, They Just Love Money More” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Tocantins’ Taj

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Taj, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline.

Taj: Not a problem.

RNO: What we saw on TV indicated that you pretty much followed the lead of J.T. and Stephen in terms of scheming. What specific strategic moves did you make that we didn’t get to see?

Taj: I really kind of just calmed down and just sat in the background during the secon half. Timbira was so dysfunctional that they destroyed themselves. I didn’t have to use the idol. I relaxed and was void of any kind of deception at that point and didn’t have to do anything.

RNO: So how mad were or are you at your two erstwhile allies for voting you off in fourth place?

Taj: (Laughs) I was disgusted that night. I got over it quickly when I had a pina colada and food back at Ponderosa. I figured, I’m going home in two days it’s not so bad. But I had to be bitter for the camera – I stared the at the guys with a mean look and then winked at Debbie off to the side.

RNO: So you’re okay with them now?

Taj: Yeah, I’ve gotten over it. I had to move forward. (Laughs)

RNO: When voting against Erinn at your final Tribal Council in the game, you said it had to be either her or you. But why? Why didn’t you consider joining with Erinn to topple the guys and take control of the game for yourself?

Taj: I did. But there wasn’t much room to work with at that point. When I came over, I was in an alliance with Brendan, Stephen, and Sierra, but that fell apart when Brendan and Sierra became cocky and strange because they had the majority in their tribe. So it was just Stephen, J.T., and I – I hadn’t thought of anything against them because I was happy going to the final three and didn’t want to have the final vote to choose one of them. I promised Stephen I would vote for him in the end. But after he blindsided me, I was like, bets are off. I voted for J.T. because it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t trust Erinn enough to go with me against the guys – I put the trust in the guys. We had a whole day, but you’re playing against so much more than the 16 people. I had no sanity, I had no skin left. I was just beat up.

RNO: Did you realize when you gave Stephen the idol to hold that it at that point became his idol to do with as he pleased?

Taj: I had no idea. I’m a Survivor novice, I’d never watched the show before. In my four- or five-day crash study of eight seasons, there was never a mention of this. I had no idea. I’m thinking if he’s in my alliance, we’re cool. Fortunately for me, he didn’t use it against me. Had I known, I would have never given it to him. There was no Survivor manual. (Voices of her fellow finalists in the background.) Wait, there was? Who knew? I never read it.

RNO: Why didn’t you use the immunity idol at the last time in Tribal Council that it could have been used?

Taj: I knew I didn’t have to use it and I wanted to keep it as a keepsake. I will put it on my wall tomorrow.

RNO: Did you see anything on TV that, if you had known about it prior to voting, would have caused you to change your vote over to Stephen?

Taj: No, my vote would still be the same. He was most deserving at that point. All bets were off – I had promised Stephen I would be his lone vote, but he didn’t give me a reason to be loyal to him.

RNO: So if he had told you ahead of time instead of blindsiding you, would that have been okay?

Taj: If he had not written my name down, that would have been okay!

RNO: How did you react when you saw that J.T. actually proposed eliminating you since you didn't have possession of the idol?

Taj: That’s the way it appeared. But earlier that day I was sitting down getting myself together and Stephen said Erinn thinks we should get rid of J.T. We wanted to go down as the Jalapao three, so here we are with the four of us, why would we go against the group now? We can just ride the game out. I felt like there was no trust or loyalty. So it wasn’t so much him, it was really the other two. It worked because they got me out.

RNO: Was there anything else you saw on TV that surprised you because you didn’t know about it while you were out there?

Taj: No, when I got voted out, I pretty much understood everything. It did make me feel good to see how they were so crushed afterwards. They do love me, they just love money more.

RNO: We’re about out of time, so do you have anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Taj: My time on Survivor was the craziest, most intense, incredible time – I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It was one of the hardest, most enriching things. I would encourage people to do it because it’s definitely life-changing. I’ve been privileged to have so many great things happen to me but you can’t really appreciate them until you leave it – to go back home, I appreciate it more.

RNO: Thanks again, Taj!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Tocantins articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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