“I Felt Like the Tide Was Turning” – Reality News Online’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: One World’s Monica

What we saw of Monica on Survivor emphasized her great spirit and positive personality – and that was no different in talking to her! She of course had her thoughts on Colton’s behavior, but overall the experience was obviously an enjoyable one for her, as she explains here.

Reality News Online: Hi, Monica, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at Reality News Online!

Monica: My pleasure.

RNO: Let’s start at the end. From your comments on last night’s show, it appears you trusted Colton so much that you really thought you were safe. But if you hadn’t trusted him, what other moves do you think you could have made, given the situation on your new tribe?

Monica: If I did not trust him, the first thing I’d have done is go after him and try to blindside him with the idol that seemed to be so difficult for the boys to get rid of.

RNO: How would you have done that if the guys were with him?

Monica: The hard part for me was – it was so uncomfortable to see the Tribal Council the week before and how Bill was just roasted in the tribe. When we switched up, we had no knowledge of that Tribal Council, so it was very easy to believe Colton.

My relationship with Colton was a little deeper than you saw. He was struggling and homesick on day three and said, “I need a mom, you’re my Momica.” I really was a rock out there and built him up and talked him into not leaving the game. So it was very natural for me to trust him at that point in the game because we had a prior relationship and he needed me.

RNO: I was going to ask about that because you tweeted about it last night. Do you think he was acting at that point to gain trust and sympathy, or did he really feel that way?

Monica: It seemed to me, to watch the episode, that he had some trouble at one point in the beginning and he said, “I like Monica.” But then the game Colton switched in and he said, “Wait a minute, she’s the strongest person and she has to go.” You have to be flattered that you exited the game because you were too much of a threat. It’s kind of funny to be such a threat as a 41-year-old mother of three.

RNO: Why did Colton seem to think you had so much power even though he knew you were not part of the main alliance?

Monica: I guess my spirit was maybe infectious out there. I had a wonderful time. I really did. I smiled out there and I did everything. I was able to help the women when they were down, build people up when they were crumbling. I’m from Florida – It’s hot, it’s muggy, it’s buggy. I grew up on the beaches. I speared a fish and caught lots of crabs and provided snails for the girls. I was actually just having a great time out there. If you were another player, that was perhaps threatening.

There was an alliance of five women but after that challenge on the beam, where I was the only one to make it across, I felt like the tide was turning and Chelsea, Sab, Kim, and I were going to be the alliance of four and potentially eliminate Alicia and Kat next. Jeff asked at that earlier Tribal Council if alliances would be the same if they had it to do over again, and all of those women said no.

RNO: What did you learn, if anything, from watching last night’s episode?

Monica: Number one, I was just not privy to the very, very uncomfortable Episode 4 – the comments to Leif were very offensive [calling him an oompa loompa and the like]. Leif is such a kind person – I felt for him, his family, and all little people. And the roasting Bill got – it was very uncomfortable. Had I known, I would have embraced the switch and gone to Jonas and gone to Leif and said, “Let’s do something heroic and blindside Colton.”

As I watched the smug smiles, it almost seemed they were proud to be part of such a big blindside. I wish I had known and been able to use it to my advantage and give Colton his exit papers. But it’s so easy to Monday morning quarterback on Survivor. They don’t realize how you’re so far removed in confessional and nobody else hears that. People have wondered, “How did you not get rid of him?!” I was like, “I didn’t know! I wasn’t there!” But Jonas and Leif and Tarzan were and they were willing to be led by somebody who wasn’t really a respectful leader.

RNO: What do you think of Colton now, after his actions and after having watched him on the show?

Monica: I think Colton is small. I think he’s small in his wisdom and small in his experience and he is narrow-minded. I only hope that as a youngster at this age that he can learn from these things and grow.

RNO: Did you see his sort-of apology tweets after last week’s episode?

Monica: No I didn’t.

RNO: He basically said he was young and had to grow up on TV, etc. [Readers: You can find the full text of his tweets at the beginning of my recap of last night’s episode.]

Monica: I think it’s hard, in a day or two, to change your opinions and very difficult for a zebra to change its stripes. It’s an arduous process to change as much as he needs to at this point.

RNO: Moving away from Colton, did you originally think the tribal swap might have actually helped you, since you were on the outside of the ladies’ alliance? Or did it mess things up because you thought you might have this new alliance with some of the ladies?

Monica: The swap happened and initially when Jeff said it, a little of me felt refreshed, but when we broke the eggs, it almost couldn’t have been worse for me. It was almost as though I landed in the island of misfit toys.

But my personality is such that it’s difficult to break my sprit. It’s something I pride myself on – being a genuinely happy person. The mother instinct in me was like, let’s make lemonade out of lemons. Maybe it will turn into a wonderful opportunity for me. Now I might have a choice. If I don’t think the girls will really let me in, then I may have options with the boys. A lot of them looked like a lot of fun to play with. Troyzan was extremely likable and could have been a lot of fun to play with based on how the cards fell.

RNO: Do you think a random redraw of tribes is fair?

Monica: Unfortunately, I don’t write the rules of Survivor. I’ll leave that up to Mark Burnett and Jeff Probst and those who have made the show a success. They must have felt it was the best way or the fairest way, but I would have perhaps benefited from the schoolyard pick.

RNO: We didn’t see a whole lot of you in the first few weeks – probably because you weren’t causing a lot of drama. What did you do during that time that we didn’t get to see?

Monica: I was the woman in camp with the motor that never quit. There was so much drama going on and I felt like it’s best to sit back, stay out of the fray, stay out of the arguments, watch, and outwork everybody else on my tribe. Nine people’s canteens, there was never a drop dry. Building shelter, washing clothes, catching crabs, I was the assistant with plucking and cooking the chickens.

RNO: I’m unfortunately being told we’re out of time (which is too bad because I wanted to ask you to “explanate” what the heck Tarzan was talking about), but since we’re at the end, is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Monica: It was one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had. What I take from this is I’m so honored to be chosen and be part of the Survivor family and that’s what’s most special to me. I just came away thinking wow, I’ve made some new friends and new fans and I’m really happy at my station in life.

RNO: Thanks again, Monica!

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David Bloomberg is the Editor of Reality News Online and has been covering Survivor since the very first season. He can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. You can also follow him on Twitter!

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