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Survivor :: Winners At War / Season 40 CBS Feb. 2020

13K views 249 replies 26 participants last post by  mgkdragn 
#1 ·
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#214 ·
Big time Finale tonight .. I guess they are doing the Reunion via Zoom or some such .. I don't know how well that will work out ..

On a side note, I've watched a few of the shows that air remotely, Jimmy Fallon does a pretty good job, Bill Maher not so much .. I think it's tough without the benefit of a live audience .. and, I'm not really all in for pro Sports without audience .. the Blues and the Cardinals I don't think will quite be the same, if they come back sans audience .. of course, I guess it's better than nothing ..
 
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#216 ·
Hopefully CBS sent out quality video/audio equipment to everyone to use. It’ll drag the show down if you’ve got a couple people with crappy cameras or internet connections that’s all pixelated and laggy.

Natalie has 3 challenge advantages and an immunity idol so hopefully it was tokens well spent. I don’t see any of the old school players winning except for Tyson. Besides Rob, he seems the hungriest old schooler. If Rob makes it back, they’ll try to get rid of him right away. He does have an idol that he bought with tokens so that might help.

I don’t have an outright favorite, but I wouldn’t be upset if Natalie or Tyson won. It’s a shame that Natalie was voted out so early since we never got to see show she would have interacted with the main group.
 
#223 ·
Jeff Probst weighs on the Survivor finale, winner, and remote reunion

The host talks about the epic, emotional end to the biggest season ever.

Each week, host Jeff Probst has been answering a few questions about the latest episode of Survivor: Winners at War. Here, he shares his take on the finale, including the winner, an emotional fire duel, a player sacrificing himself, the remote reading of the votes, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We always start these finale Q&As off by talking about the winner. But now we are talking about the winner of winners! Hit me up with your thoughts on Tony’s victory run, and does this second dominant win officially put him on the Survivor Mount Rushmore?

JEFF PROBST: Tony is such a delight to watch play Survivor. He seemed to have a general plan to lay low and see if he could get a footing with a solid alliance. He didn’t hunt for idols, in fact, he only found one the entire game. I was also really impressed with how malleable he tried to be with Sarah. You could tell that at times he did things he didn’t want to do, like have to play his idol, but he did them anyway to remain loyal. And his performance in challenges was really something given he had not won a single challenge in his previous two seasons. And, on top of everything else, he was so entertaining week after week with his giant ladders, sharks, and spy nests. I agree with what he said at final, that he didn’t really make many mistakes. I won’t get into the GOAT debate, but I will say we could not be happier with Tony as the winner of our biggest season of all time.

This has been a very emotional season with moments like the log carrying task and the full family loved ones visit, but the most impactful emotion of the season may have been what we saw from Tony and Sarah after the fire-making battle. Two best friends in the game, in their third season together — each one of them having already beaten the other —reacting as one had her dream dashed and the other his dream fulfilled. What was it like seeing that up close because someone was getting a bit misty on his couch in Montclair, N.J.?

I’m not sure I can adequately describe anything from this season in a way that will capture the overall spirit, let alone such a personal moment. This is what it was like every day. These 20 players went hard every minute of every day. And they did it, almost without exception, with class. By the time Sarah and Tony made it to the final four fire-making challenge, it was inevitable that it would end in emotion. I thought it was beautiful, powerful, and real.

In season 38, Chris Underwood said that he knew he had to give up immunity to take Rick Devens on in fire because it was the only way people from the Edge of Extinction would vote for him to win. Natalie was challenged a bit by the jury for not doing the same thing and giving up her immunity to take on Tony. Do you think that was a mistake on her part and that she should have gone for broke knowing she needed to pad her résumé?

Natalie was well aware that Chris had set the tone in season 38. I think it was clear that she didn’t feel confident enough in her fire-making skills to take out Tony. So she put someone up against her who she thought might be able to take him out. Had she been right, and she almost was, that would have been another move she could add to her résumé. Natalie played as hard as she could play on the Edge. She deserved her shot back in and the fact that she received four votes speaks to the respect she earned.

In a shocking move earlier in the finale, Ben gave Sarah permission to vote him out so she could build her résumé with the jury. Do you think this decision was born out of Ben’s belief that he had little-to-no-shot with the jury, especially after his comments to you that he was “not very popular”?

I can only comment on what I saw and what I saw was Ben being absolutely exhausted, both emotionally and physically. He also had a very tight bond with Sarah. It seemed to me that he knew he was fading and maybe in an emotional moment, he made the gesture to Sarah. He was clear in saying that if she didn’t do it, he’d keep fighting, but if she wanted to it would be okay. I’m gonna take it at face value that it was a gesture of love that came from this specific situation – “I’m tired… I am fading… if you can benefit from that… do so. Take me out." And Sarah did.

Obviously, gender — like many other factors — plays a role in Survivor. I remember asking you after the Island of the Idols finale about the fact that men had won the last 5 seasons of Survivor and 11 out of the last 14, and you were genuinely surprised by those numbers. Now it’s up to six straight male winners and 12 out of the past 15. And you all had a fascinating conversation about gender at the first finale Tribal Council where you came right out and said, “Let me own my part. I am certain right now if I were to look back at all the comments I have made over 20 years, I would find the exact same bias in me. Who I call by last names. Guys have different relationships with each other, and I might not know how to have that relationship with a woman. So I’ll definitely own the fact that I definitely don’t think I saw it when Survivor started. And I don’t even think I know I was supposed to look for it. But I am very much aware of it now.” You didn’t have to say that, and you certainly didn’t have to include it in the episode — especially when every second of air-time is precious. Why did you feel that was important for you to say and to include?

I’ve been with Survivor for 20 years and I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. I also hope that I’ve changed, grown, and matured throughout the years. I’m not the same person I was when I started with the show in 2000. I’ve learned so much from these players. These kinds of personal moments with the players come up from time to time where I feel it’s appropriate for me to inject my own story into the game. Gender bias is something that has become such an important topic that this one felt it was timely and relevant for many reasons. I’m grateful to Sarah for bringing up the topic. It gave me the opportunity to address my own life lessons!

Finally, tell me about putting together the plan to read the votes remotely and what it felt like to tell someone a few thousand miles away he just won $2 million dollars?

Building a Tribal Council in my garage took me back to my early production days. It was actually a lot of fun. We also shipped cameras and lights and everything else we needed to pull off the show. The Zoom call with the final three was very intimate because it was just the four of us and I had an iPad counting down how many seconds were left in the show. But I really felt for them because they could not feel the love that I know they would have felt if we had been live in Los Angeles.

I’m sure for Natalie and Michele it was more difficult to find out they lost and then have the show end so abruptly with them sitting with their loved ones in their home. I am really impressed with all three of them. They handled the vote read with total grace. As for Tony, I wish we had a bit more time because he’s so fun to talk to, but the main thing is that we had enough time to acknowledge him as a great representative of our show and see his wife and kids hugging on him as we ended the show. A great ending to a great season!

https://ew.com/tv/survivor-finale-jeff-probst-winner-tony-reunion-interview/
 
#224 ·
Tony Vlachos reveals all his antics we DIDN'T see on Survivor

Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday’s season finale of Survivor: Winners at War.

He won the war.

Tony Vlachos turned in a dominant performance in Survivor: Winners at War. Going up against the stiffest competition the show has ever seen, the cop from New Jersey and Cagayan victor excelled in every facet of the game — social, strategic, and challenge — and he did it all while perched in a freakin’ Spy Nest. Whether he was winning four immunity challenges, finding a hidden immunity idol, overcoming an extortion by getting people from different alliances to give him tokens, or dramatically flipping the vote at the last second for a shocking blindside even his biggest ally did not see coming, Tony set a new standard for excellence in the game. Nobody cast a single vote against him all season. And nobody held it against him when he voted them out. He is the champion of champions. The second two-time winner ever. The king to stand beside the queen.

How confident was Tony that he had the votes at the end to win the game? And how weird was it to have those votes naming him the $2 million winner read via webcam due to a pandemic? How does this win stack up to his Cagayan victory? And what can he tell us about what we didn’t see this season on TV? We asked the newest face on the Mount Rushmore of greatest Survivor players ever all that and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congratulations, Tony on an epic outing.

TONY VLACHOS: Oh my God. Thank you so much, Dalton. Oh my God. I just finished watching the show. It is so epic.

Were you feeling pretty confident when you walked off that Tribal Council set 10 months ago that you had won?

You know how I am. I'm never confident until I see the final result. I'm always, always thinking. My wheels are always spinning. I'm always keeping myself on my toes. So, I'd never just let my cards down. So I can never say I'm confident. I'm always giving some kind of doubt in my head. So I just don't slip on anybody and get caught off guard.

Well, I'm sure you're doing the jury math in your head, and then they showed the votes on the episode, and we see that Tyson, Jeremy, Ethan, and Parvati all voted for Natalie instead of you. Any votes that you were surprised you either got or did not get?

I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in Parvati actually because I know Parvati respects the game, and I'm not knocking Natalie whatsoever. She did amazing. I watched it on the TV, but just because she did great in the game for the last five days, I did great for 39 days. So I was kind of upset. If the votes weren't going to come to me, I think Michele deserves to get the votes, because she played 39 days in the game, dodging bullets. It's a war, and she had to be there dodging landmines, and the game is part of a strategy, influence, and goals. It's a lot to do with that.

Natalie did crush it on the Edge, and that's a whole totally different game as far as I'm concerned, but I was shocked that Pavarti did that. Ethan again, for no fault of my own, I never got to meet him. So he, like, how's he going to vote for me? He never even got to talk to me or say hello to me. But I wasn't surprised that Jeremy, I know why he voted for Natalie. I definitely understand that. Natalie's like family to him. So, family comes first.

He told me before the game that winners shouldn't vote for someone from the Edge.

Yeah, but I forgive him because I put myself in his shoes and I'm saying, “What if Sarah had made it to the end?” I don't care if she was a goat. I don't care if she was dragged in. I don't care if she did nothing to get there. I would have still given Sarah my vote just for loyalty. And that's how it is. You got to understand that. You got to respect that, I guess, right?

How does this win — beyond the money, because obviously you got double the money this time — but how does this win stack up for you compared to your previous victory in Cagayan?

Oh man, let me tell you about that. I mean, it still hasn't even settled in that, like, I'm watching myself on TV and I'm like, "Oh my God. How was I that patient in the beginning? Oh my goodness, how did I do that? How did I do that? How did I avoid getting any votes on me?" And for the first time in my Survivor career, that Ben blindside was the first time that I was not included in the vote. That's the first time in my career that I was ever blindsided by a vote. Most, every single vote off, or person that got booted, I was always involved in it or I knew where the votes were going. That was the first time. And I'm like, "Wow!" So this time, this season, I just went through everything. I went through the social game. I went from winning challenges that I'd never done before. I got blindsided — that never happened to me before. I built a Spy Nest. So, there were a lot of firsts for me this time around. It was insane.

Having watched you for three seasons, I know you're always up to something, but when you have 20 winners out there and the Edge of Extinction and all this stuff, there's only so much they can show on TV. So hit me up with some things that happened out there that you wish had made it to air?

Oh, man, where do I begin, man? There's so many. Even from day one. Sandra, as a matter of fact, she stole my Spy Bunker! I was building it with her because I trusted her. And then I wind up finding out she was ratting me out to Kim that I was spying by the well. It was just so many things.

Me and Nick and Wendell and Sandra formed an alliance and we called ourselves the Justice System. And then when Sandra tried to blindside me, we said, "Uh-oh, the system is corrupt! We have to find another way of getting by the game." I was out every single night, every single night, I was out making fires, looking for idols, searching the jungle, making fake idols. I was doing it all, Dalton. I did not sleep.

You made a fake idol? What's the deal with the fake idol?

All right, so I made a fake idol and I showed it to Nick, and that's another reason why a lot of people watch it and they comment on Twitter. I've seen it. "Oh, Nick is dumb. He helped people." No, Nick wasn't dumb. Nick was playing it safe. He was a little bit afraid. Because I told them I had two idols. I showed him two idols! I woke him up in the middle of the night when he was a bit disoriented. And I said, "Come with me." And I showed him the fake idol. And he thought it was real because it was late at night. He was in the middle of his sleep. And I said, "I got you. I got your back, Nick. I got your back. Anybody tries anything, I got your back. And if they try anything on me, I'm going to use my idols." So there were a lot of things that people were confused about because they didn't show it. But there's a lot of things that went on.

The most impactful moment of the entire finale was you and Sarah after battling at fire. Have you ever felt lower in this game than after securing your place in the final three, which should be your happiest moment, but at the expense of your partner in Sarah?

Watching that back right now, I was in full tears, man. I usually try to act tough in front of my kids and my wife. I tried to hold back tears, even though they want to come out. But, this time, I couldn't even hold it. I couldn't hold back. Man, I was balling like a baby, man. That was so impactful. I can't believe that. That hurt me so bad. I mean, it needed to be done in order for me to win, I guess, so I'm happy with that, of course. But that hurts so bad, man.

Our dream — Sarah and I, we would always say, "Imagine Cops ‘R’ Us at the end." But now thinking about it, Sarah would have kicked my ass at the final Tribal. So, I guess it worked out perfectly for me, but it was so hurtful, man. That was the worst, that was the worst feeling in the world.

If Sarah beats you at fire, how do you think she does against Natalie and Michele?

I would hope Sarah wins. She 100% gets my vote. I don't know for sure, but I truly believe Sarah would win. I mean, you've seen, there was plenty of opportunities to try to break up me and Sarah, and Sarah was vulnerable while I was protected and nobody even wanted to get her out. That was her social game. I seen it with Kim. I seen it with Sophie. I seen it with Ben. I seen it with Denise. I seen it with everybody. So she's great at what she does. I mean, she's a great Survivor player. And I think she learned from the best! I think she gave me credit for my Cagayan game.

At any point, over 39 days, did you ever feel like you were in serious danger in this game? We never saw your name written down once. I'm sure you got nervous and you were worried as anyone would be out there, but did you ever feel like you were in serious doo-doo at any point in this game?

Honestly, I don't think there was a point where I really thought that I was endangered like that. I don't remember being in like panic mode, like, "Oh my God, this is my night. I'm going home tonight." I never felt like that. And that's mind-boggling to me how that happened in the game. But I guess it all just goes down with me being goofy. Me just making everybody laugh. Me keeping my shoulders shrugged down. Me hunching my back over, keeping my arms down, never crossing them, talking to people from a lower ground, so they could look down at me when they talked to me, instead of me looking down at them.

It was just all those little things that make it count where it makes you look like, I just own people that way. They're like, "Okay, okay. He's not that threatening." I was never in their face. I was like, "What do you think? Okay. Okay. This is what I think. Okay. That's what you think? I'm with you, whatever you want." You know like, it was just crazy. The little things that counted, that meant so much in the end.

Your final words at that final Tribal Council were, "I know it's a big, huge, Super Bowl season of Survivor. And I tried to be a great player for the season." That's a pretty, savvy, calculated attempt to appeal to the pride of these jurors as winners, right? Like they should want to have a big, epic winner?

Absolutely. When I go to a final Tribal Council, like I did in my first season, I'm always cautious of what words to use. I choose my words wisely because I don't want to trigger any flashbacks of me being a villain in Cagayan. I didn't want to trigger any words that might turn the people off. So, I didn't want to say, "You guys need to vote for me because this is a season that you want to be represented by the best. And I am the best. I don't think you should vote for Nat." I couldn't talk like that.

So again, just like I played my whole game, I chose my words wisely. I was very cautious of what I said and dropping those little subtle hints, like, "Hey guys, just think about it for a second. This is the biggest season of Survivor. You guys are all involved in it. What more could you have asked from me? I won challenges. I won a fire challenge. My social game was on point. My strategy was on point. I created blindsides. I built a Spy Nest. Like, I did it all. There's nothing more I could have done in the game." But I'm not going to throw it out like that, you know? But they got the point. My game spoke for itself.

You just literally minutes ago won the $2 million. How weird was it to have Jeff Probst give you those $2 million over a webcam?

Oh, man, I don't care how he gives it to me, as long as I get it! $2 million, that is huge, man! Oh my God.

And this time you got to have your family with you when you won.

Oh, what a blessing. This whole season's been a blessing all around. Just from the family visit, all my kids. It's just, it's just amazing. And I got to share it with my family on my sofa in my house. It's just so epic.

Tony, you've now played Survivor three times. You've won twice. You're on the Mount Rushmore. You are the king. Will we see you back on the island for season 50?

Oh, absolutely. The Seniors edition. Survivor Seniors Edition!

https://ew.com/tv/survivor-tony-vlachos-finale-winners-at-war-interview/
 
#225 ·
congratulations to Tony .. he played well ..

Much respect to Natalie .. 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at after being booted first and clawing her way back to sit at Final .. if there is a come back story, she is certainly it .. I do think her politeness at Tribal hurt her some on the votes ..

The Season was much better than I initially expected it to be .. usually, I'm against bringing back old players ..
 
#226 ·
Tony deserved the win. He’s crazy but not he’s not mean.

Natalie was cursed with Chris from last time coming back from Extinction and winning. Other than beating Tony over the head with a stick and presenting his head to the jury, she couldn’t have swayed the jury to vote for her. Chris made the ultimate badass move by choosing to make fire against Devens but the circumstances were different. Natalie wasn’t a fire making beast. If you can make someone do your dirty work, why would you do it yourself? And Rob calling her out for not doing it was was lame. He can make fire in 10 seconds, but not everyone has that skill. She came back into the game after a month on Extinction, played and idol and won the final immunity. Perhaps she could have made a stronger case for herself at final tribal council, but I think everyone’s minds were made up already.

Poor Michelle. Not a single vote. She and her sister are hot! And Natalie looked great too.
 
#229 ·
I don't disagree, however, Natalie worked her ass off at Extinction .. it's not like it was a vacation and she just got back in easy peasy ..

Myself, I'm not a huge fan of Extinction .. although the concept of coming back in the game goes back to the Outcasts​ tribe from Survivor: Pearl Islands
 
#228 ·
I wondered about that, too .. could not find any definitive answer .. although there was a $25k sign on bonus for all .. plus the weekly pay, and second place I'm pretty sure was about $100k in regular seasons ..
 
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#230 · (Edited)
My only (real) issue with the show was coming back from the Edge with an immunity idol that late in the game was a little too much. I understand they wanted to keep the contestants around til the finish and someone coming back is probably going to be a target but still it was too much of a free pass. They should have come back with a few more people remaining - it did play out dramatically but if I was one of the remaining few I'd be rather upset.

Also to a minor degree it felt like the tokens interfered with the game more than they enhanced it. Like "outsiders" controlling the remaining players and to a large degree determined who got to return (I guess that wasn't that bad as she had such a lead in the number of tokens). Bottom line they don't enhance the game rather change it and I'm not sure it's for the good.
 
#233 ·
Yeah, an Idol when you come back in is quite helpful .. but, let's keep in mind, those Idols are earned .. not randomly found by a Player wandering around and getting lucky ..

I had an interview with Nat, but I can't find the link now .. however, she likened EI to hell and stated that the regular game was a Vacation compared to the conditions on EI ..
 
#234 ·
I had an interview with Nat, but I can't find the link now .. however, she likened EI to hell and stated that the regular game was a Vacation compared to the conditions on EI ..
Key words here... regular game. It doesn't matter how hard or easy anything externally was rather it matters how it affects the game when introduced. To a large degree it's unfair to throw someone voted out back into the game but then stack the odds in their favor (especially this late in the ballgame) seems rather heavy handed (at best). I liken it to placing someone in the Final Four (NCAA basketball tourney) who lost in the first round since they keep practicing hard... sorry you lost, try again next season. :)
 
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#237 · (Edited)
Natalie Anderson on the Survivor votes she's surprised she didn't get

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congratulations on a remarkably wild run this season, Natalie.

NATALIE ANDERSON: Thank you, I'll take the congratulations, but I am the first loser. But whatever.

Listen, I was out there. I watched you get voted out of the game on day two. You came all the way back, you made it to day 39. Did you ever consider raising the sail?

Yeah, I don't think I ever actually thought about quitting. I mean, I feel like I would have to be medevac-ed before I quit Survivor. But, for me, I made a decision day one that my head was going to be in the game, and I was all in. There was no pumping the brakes on me and you can see on Extinction, there was no kind of breaks. I never slowed down, and that's how I am with everything. I'm just either full speed ahead, crashing into everything, or I'm just not going to do it. And the motivation to keep going was just to get back in the game, and then once I was in the game, it was like, "Here we go." And I get to eat rice and do this? F--- it, I'm good.

When you walked out of that final Tribal Council 10 months ago, did you think you had won?

So, I definitely didn't think it was in the bag, but I definitely thought I got way more votes than I did. I definitely thought I got Danni's vote and Amber's vote, which I didn't. I also thought maybe Kim and Sophie might've swung my way. I shared some peanut butter with them, which they didn't show. And I really confided in them those last couple of days and was able to bond on what was going on with the beach. I was also trying to get some information from them about what was actually going on in that weird alliance that was going on, on the main beach. So, I definitely knew it would have been a challenge to win. I thought maybe I would tie, but then once the weeks went by, months went by, then, now a year has gone by, I knew I didn't win, but I definitely still thought I got more votes than I did. I was really surprised with the fact that Danni didn't vote for me. That is so bizarre.

The jury was generally very complimentary of all three of you, but you did get dinged by Boston Rob on a few things. The first thing he dinged you for was sort of isolating yourself socially at Edge of Extinction. What did you make of that?

So, he's not wrong. I definitely kind of withdrew from the collective of Extinction. The collective of Extinction was this like zombie mode walking around the beach, like a damn White Walker kind of status. And if I'm going to be around that, that's going to rub off on me. And so, my motivation at the end was, "Listen, I got to get back in this game. My head, it cannot be in the same place as some of these other people." People like Adam, Wendell, they literally just lulled around the beach all damn day from morning to night. And that kind of energy to me, I feel rubs off on people. So, I was just doing my own thing. I was gallivanting on the island, I was exploring, I was fishing, and I definitely withdrew from the collective because I was just focused more on myself.

And that was a conscious effort I made because Extinction became really crowded really quick, and it's really easy to lose focus of why we were there. And you can just use each other to laugh and have this dark humor, because everybody was miserable. And listen, I had to do what I had to do to get back onto the beach, and obviously I didn't realize it would make people feel a certain type of way because I felt like all of us knows how much it sucked — that all of us wanted to get back on the beach, but that's who I am. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten back into the game if I had done things like wanting to make everybody happy. For me, I knew what I had to do, and I knew the head space I needed to get into to do the battle back. And that's what it took. And it did end up alienating some people, but I can't apologize for that.

And the other thing Rob dinged you for was the decision to not take on Tony and fire, because obviously you knew that people were going to compare that to Chris Underwood giving up his immunity, but you chose not to do it. Tell me about the decision.

So, that ding is something that I've been dinging myself with ever since I saw Sarah and Tony make fire. I was cringing, because that moment was so... I just wanted to vomit. It was so over the top and yeah, I get it, it's emotional. But at the same time, it's like, literally Sarah was just acting to make everybody want to vote for Tony. So I was just sitting there like, "Oh my God, barf." And so I haven't made peace with the decision to not make fire, because I know if I went to the end with Sarah and Michelle, I would have totally won. That is a Tribal I would have walked away thinking like, "All right, yeah. Pretty much in the bag, Natalie." So, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get over it. I don't know.

That decision was a back and forth all day between Michelle and Sarah, and even myself. And it was actually supposed to be Michelle until the end, but then Michelle was crying at some point and I was like, "Oh my God. Girlfriend is not in it right now." And I put in Sarah, but Sarah was too close to Tony. I just thought she was all about the girl power. And I thought she could pull it out and we'd have a final three women, but Sarah didn't look like she would go ahead with it either. So I don't know. Michelle was freaking out. That's why I didn't want to put her in, but now in hindsight, I wish I just made Michelle go to fire. Or me.

The big question I've had, that I'm sure lots of people have had, is you had all those extra Fire Tokens before the battle back challenge and then you used them to buy an idol for Tyson. Why Tyson and not Jeremy, considering how close you and Jeremy are?

Okay. So Tyson, one, he's a fricking challenge beat. It was really hard for me to admit to myself that, "Hey, if somebody can beat you in this challenge, who's it going to be? It's going to be Tyson. And do you want to give him extra motivation to even beat you and give him an idol?" That was one of the hardest things I've had to do, but at the same time, I did not want anybody going back into the game without an idol. If I could have kept that second idol on myself and just handed it off to whoever won, I would have done that, but those weren't the rules. You had to walk into the battle back with the idol and that idol stays on you and you couldn't pass it off. Jeremy came to Extinction and he looked a little bit defeated and Tyson and me, we were still out for blood.

Tyson had already tasted the blood going back in the first time. And me, I'm a fricking pit bull, so that taste of blood never left my mouth since I got voted off day two. And so, Tyson and me were the ones with the most fight on day 36, and Tyson had also just proved he’s amazing at challenges. So, my second immunity idol wasn't going to go to somebody that I just had all the feels for. It was going towards somebody that I knew could get back in the game the best. And if I'm not going to bet on myself, who would I bet on? It would be Tyson.

Did you put any conditions on that? Like, "I’ll give you this idol, but I get to the end, you're going to vote for me to win, right?" Were you making sure before you bought that for him?

No, no way. Tyson is a good dude and that scene was hundred percent authentic. He didn't ask me for that idol. And nobody knows this — but you might know it actually — when I had a concussion, what was it, 2016? I was in Provo at a concussion camp, and Tyson lived in Provo at the time in Utah, and he opened up his house to me and he let me stay in his daughter's room for a week while I was getting concussion treatment. And I didn't know them and this was so, so, so long ago. There was no game even on the horizon and that was something he did out of the kindness of his heart. He and Rachel put me up while I was suffering with this concussion. And obviously, that had probably had something to do with the fact that I chose him to get the idol, but he's also a challenge monster. So, I didn't care if I didn't make it in, and if I had made it in, I kind of knew he would vote for me. But those words were not even spoken.

Tell me about what was going on there at the water well when you were talking to Sarah at that final five and she noticed the idol in your buff. What was that idol doing in your wrist buff?
Oh my God. I was so paranoid. I'd be hiding it anywhere because everybody was psychopath on the beach and I was going to hide it by a shelter, but I decided not to. And then, I don't know, I just ran away somewhere. And then I think she thought it was fake and I should've just gone with it, but it was literally such a Survivor no-no. I just put it on my wrist and started walking around like an idiot.

And did you and Michele ever have any thoughts about trying to take Sarah out?

So, me and Michelle, we had an option to take Sarah out that day when it was a tied vote. I don't know why we felt that Sarah was more inclined to work with us than Denise, because Denise was so loyal to Ben that she would never flip on Ben. I mean, I wish I did, but Denise was also just super stubborn. There was no way we were ever going to get her to flip on Sarah or Ben. So Sarah seemed a little bit more inclined, but she also could have just been way more cunning and a better actor, you know?

What's something that happened out there that didn't make it into an episode that you wish we could have seen?

Oh my God, the Edge. There's so much that you guys don't see. Well, the most interesting thing was when I got there, day one, I was, first, I was like super depressed. So for like half a day, I just laid on one spot on the beach and I didn't even get water. And I think producers were a little bit nervous ‘cause I literally just didn't move. I was in one spot on the ocean laying there to die, basically. And then that's when I kind of flipped it out and I was like, "You know what? I've never been on a tropical beach by myself." So I spent a nice chunk of time completely naked. I just got completely naked and swam around in the ocean. And I was like, "This is like mermaid fantasies!”

That's one thing that nobody knows. And then the second thing is they just didn't depict how hard the Edge was. We would fall asleep every night and rats would be biting us. We'd wake up to rats biting our fingers and our toes. And how much we ate. It was literally stabbing, sleeping in the dirt, rats biting us every night. If anything, I wish that they had time to show the extreme conditions of the Edge because it was so difficult. And for me to say that, you know it's hard, because it was hard for me and it was extreme. It made a regular Survivor season seem like a luxury beach vacation compared to what we dealt with this season.

You've now done The Amazing Race twice. You've done Survivor twice. Will we see you on the island again if you get that call?

Well, I was hoping for a win. And then I'd be two out of four CBS shows, which would have been a pretty nice resume. Now that I'm one out of four, I want to go back. I feel like at this point I just need to go on Big Brother because I've done both shows twice in a row. But listen, if Survivor calls me back, I would definitely go back. If I'd won this season, I think I would have retired from the game of Survivor, but now I just feel like I have something else to prove. So, listen, if Survivor comes knocking, you know I'm answering that door.

Don't go on Big Brother, Natalie. Those migraines are going to come back on day one if you do that.

As long as they have a gym, Dalton, I'll be good.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/natalie-anderson-survivor-votes-shes-121633862.html
 
#238 ·
Survivor: Michele Fitzgerald Details Her Bumpy Road to Finale Night — 'I Can Handle Whatever They Throw at Me'

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Wednesday’s Survivor: Winners at War finale.

Survivor‘s Michele Fitzgerald may not have won the grand prize, but she did prove herself to naysayers as a social assassin one should never underestimate.

Despite her arduous path to the final three, Fitzgerald held multiple alliances throughout, amassed loads of fire tokens thanks to her masterful social maneuvering and won two critical immunity challenges that were key to her survival. But it wasn’t enough to cement the victory; she placed third in a 12-4-0 vote. (Read our interviews with winner Tony Vlachos and runner-up Natalie Anderson, and click here for a full recap of the finale.)

Below, Fitzgerald talks to TVLine about the limitations of playing from the bottom, surviving criticism from her past and helping dismantle the game’s dominating alliance.
TVLINE | When you left Fiji last year, how did you think you did at the final tribal?

I pretty much knew it was going to be Tony. All the people who told me they considered voting for me let me know, so I was not surprised I didn’t receive a vote. I’m actually glad they let me know so my expectation was curbed [on the night of the finale].

TVLINE | How was the experience of the virtual announcement? Were you bummed to not have the live show?

I was a little bit bummed. Obviously, we all hoped to be out in L.A. celebrating with our whole cast, but I got to do that last time. I think one of my biggest regrets from Season 32 was that at my finale, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with my family because I was so focused on my cast and the chaos around winning. So this time, to be able to sit in my living room with my family and my boyfriend felt really intimate, so I really appreciated that as well. It wasn’t all bad!

TVLINE | Your social game was phenomenal! What do you think was the pivotal move that helped you go deep into the game?

I would say the immunity win that got me to the final five was probably the most important thing for me. There was absolutely no way I would’ve gotten there without it. Nobody would even look at me, let alone strategize. Without that, I never would’ve been sitting in the final three. I made so many moves in the beginning, pre-merge, that I’m so proud of, that were more feathers in my cap and made me more proud. But the biggest move was probably my immunity win.

TVLINE | Natalie’s return seemed to open up a lot of options for you. Were you glad it was Natalie who won the battle back, or were you hoping for someone else?

I was so glad it was Natalie. We had this really fun dynamic at the end of the game. Me and her are [both from] Jersey, and I actually had never met her before, so we just connected. I was so grateful it was her. There were a few people I didn’t want to come back in. I definitely burned some bridges along the way, so you hope those people aren’t the ones who come back in. I just wanted somebody who was open and willing to work with me after a week-and-a-half of people not strategizing with me. I just wanted somebody who wanted me, honestly! [Laughs]

TVLINE | What would your ideal final three have looked like, had you gotten to decide?

I would’ve loved to be sitting there with Sarah and Natalie. I think it would’ve been really cool to have three very strong women at the end. I feel it can be a little bit challenging sometimes when women have to go against men. This is something that Sarah touched on. Sometimes men come in and are perceived to be stronger by nature because they come in with all of this confidence and bravado. Our game is a little more subtle as women. I do think it can be an uphill battle for us, for our journeys to be respected, even if we play the same game. Sarah played a very similar game to Tony, yet she had the struggle of being respected. So I would’ve loved to sit there with them and fight it out with two girls.

TVLINE | Why was Denise sent home instead of Sarah at the final six tribal?

Natalie and I pulled Sarah and Denise aside separately and said, “Hey, are you willing to work with us in this game after this?” Denise really didn’t have much to say, but Sarah basically pled her allegiance to us. I think that that opened the door for that Ben conversation. She would’ve burned a bridge if she had not voted Ben, because that was basically what she had pled to us at that tribal council.

TVLINE | You guys certainly did a great job dismantling that alliance once Natalie got back in.

Ohhhh, yeahhh. [Laughs]

TVLINE | Despite coming up short this round, do you feel you got enough closure from the criticism and negativity you faced as a result of your Kaôh Rōng win?

Yeah. I was proud of my Kaôh Rōng win. So many people had negative things to say about it, so I was glad I was able to go out here. I played 78 days, never got voted out and I played a very strong game this season. If anybody had any doubts about my win, I do feel like I proved it.

TVLINE | Was there any part of your strategy that didn’t make the edit that you wish was shown?

Honestly, I have to tell you, I’m not really sure I had a strategy. I was just flying by the seat of my pants day by day, and hoping I could survive. A lot of people look towards Day 39 and are like, “Here’s how I want my journey to look to get there,” and I just think, “How can I put one foot in front of the other and get to the next day, so I can survive and get to Day 39 and plead my case?” There was nothing I felt particularly proud of that did not get shown. I loved the edit they gave me, and I’m happy with it.

TVLINE | Were there any non-game moments that happened out there that you wish fans could’ve seen?

There was a reward that me, Denise and Sarah had that was Italian food, and we got really drunk and were laughing and had a great time. I wish that was shown. But in general, just being out there with all of the legends that I had grown up watching, like Parv is so giggly and fun, and Boston Rob is exactly how you think he is. There were so many little moments. I was like, “Oh my God, I feel like I’m in my TV screen, this is insane!” So it was a blast!

TVLINE | Do you have any regrets in the game?

I do have some regrets. I think sometimes [after] being left out of the vote, there were conversations I could’ve had to clarify my position with people who I felt I was in alliances with. For instance, Nick or Jeremy. I think if I had said — and I think we did have this conversation a few times — “What’s going on, why am I being left out of the votes, how can we get back on the same page, how can you bring me in and how can we work together? This is the information I know, this is the information you know, how can we piece this together to make something happen to shake up this game?” I think so often we said, “OK, Jeremy and Michele, we know we’re together, we know we have each other’s backs,” but I don’t think we were really on the same page a lot of the time, and I wish maybe we had communicated better. I think just being more open in my conversations with my alliances.

TVLINE | Jeff Probst calls you up for another round. Are you in?

Oh my God, if Jeff called me today, I would pack my stuff up, take my hungover ass to the airport and risk getting corona[virus] to be on the show again! [Laughs]

TVLINE | Would you want to go up against newbies next time?

I don’t even care who I’m up against. I think I’ve shown that it really doesn’t matter who I’m up against, I just adapt. I can handle whatever they throw at me. So Jeff, any season you have an open spot, I’m in!

TVLINE | You’re on the record! You’re going back!

On the record! Send it directly to Jeff!

https://tvline.com/2020/05/15/survivor-michele-fitzgerald-interview-season-40-winners-at-war/
 
#239 ·
CBS Navigates Tricky International Waters With ‘The Amazing Race’ & ‘Survivor’ But Remains Hopeful Of Safe Return Soon

The Amazing Race and Survivor are two of the trickier shows to get back into production following the COVID-19 production shutdown.

Both long-running shows film extensively around the world and were halted earlier this spring.

However, CBS remains hopeful that the 33rd iteration of The Amazing Race and the 41st season of Survivor will get back to safely enthralling reality fans soon.

“In terms of Survivor and The Amazing Race, we’ll get those into production as soon as we can safely get back into production. That’s going to be a little more complicated because we literally have to navigate some international waters,” CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl told Deadline.

The Amazing Race, whose 32nd season is in the can and being saved for later in the year, halted production on the next season in February, having only filmed three episodes of the series, produced by CBS TV Studios, Earthview, Jerry Bruckheimer Television and ABC Studios, in the UK.

“If we get back into production [on The Amazing Race], you can trust that we have plotted out all of the safe and smart ways of doing it. Some countries are more affected than others and these producers are some of the best in the business and they will plot out a race that sticks to countries that are safe,” added Kahl.

Meanwhile, Survivor postponed production in March on the day that the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

The team, with exec producer and host Jeff Probst, had hoped to get back into production on season 41 in May with plans for a September premiere. However, this will now be pushed back.
Survivor is exec produced by Probst, Mark Burnett and Matt VanWagenen.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/cbs-na...rs-with-the-amazing-race-survivor-1202938568/
 
#240 ·
Snuffed: 20 years later, Sonja Christopher relives being the first person ever voted off Survivor

If you call Sonja Christopher on the phone, there’s a good chance you may get serenaded. And there’s an equally strong shot that the 83-year-old voice you hear on the other end may be accompanied by the most famous ukulele in reality television history.

“You didn't want me,” sings Christopher while strumming along. “You didn't want to do it without a preview to it. You thought that I'd be mean as a cat eating rats, mice in my bag. Give me, give me, give me what I long for, the chance to sing a song with you would get an encore. But I survived and I'm here.”

The song itself is an encore of sorts, a rendition of a tune the former music therapist once wrote and performed for Rosie O’Donnell, and played on the very same instrument that accompanied Christopher when she set out for Pulua Tiga in the year 2000 as one of 16 contestants to appear and compete on network television’s first reality competition show — a mysterious new program titled Survivor.

However, Christopher’s stay on the island was brief. In a lighter moment, she was famously shown singing “Bye Bye Blues” to eventual winner Richard Hatch, but after struggling while trying to transition from water to land in the show’s initial immunity challenge, the then-63-year-old was voted out of the game on day 3 when she received four votes (to three for Rudy Boesch and one for Stacey Stillman). That indignity made Christopher not only the first person to be voted out of Survivor: Borneo, but the first person to be voted out in 40 seasons and counting of the seemingly never-ending franchise.

Host Jeff Probst has now snuffed 610 torches in his Survivor career, but Christopher’s was his very first. And while that may seem like a somewhat dubious distinction for the ukulele-strummer, it has also given her a small measure of reality television fame as the first person to endure such a cruel fate — and do it with a smile on her face and a song in her heart.

But that early exit is not Christopher’s only measure of Survivor significance. Twenty years later, the pride of Walnut Creek, Calif. remains the oldest female contestant to ever play the game. And the woman who once serenaded O’Donnell and dined out with Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche is still a devoted viewer. Christopher was a big fan of the just completed Survivor: Winners at War. (Her take on champion Tony Vachos: “He was such a loose cannon, it seemed. And his hiding in the tree almost seemed laughable. But it turns out apparently it worked for him!”)

So while May 31 marks the 20th anniversary of Survivor’s debut, it also marks the 20th anniversary of Christopher’s exit. To celebrate both occasions, we caught up with the first person ever voted out of the game to get her complete story, including the remarkable chain of events that led to her ending up on the show, the last minute change of footwear that doomed her in the challenge, the other song she sang that got cut out of the episode, her initial reluctance to vote for Rudy, and how she feels now about her unique place in Survivor lore.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, give us the update, Sonja. How are you doing?

SONJA CHRISTOPHER: Well, for a long time after my retirement from the rest of my life, I was a music therapist. With my banjo, I'd go to assisted living places or groups of seniors and get them involved in singing along with all the old songs that our age group grew up singing. I was doing that sometimes five or six times a week. And also, people would ask me to play for club meetings or parties. Club events, I should say. So that's what I did, but I retired in December.

So how did you end up on Survivor?

I was newly recovering from breast cancer treatment. And I had been in a 11-year relationship and my partner got consolation elsewhere during that time of the cancer. So I had moved to a senior retirement community, and I was by myself, no ties, my son was grown and taking care of himself. I was reading the morning paper, and it said something in an article about CBS looking for 16 Americans to cast away on a deserted island and see who could survive for 39 days.

Well, I had always wanted to see if I could survive using only my hands and my wits. As I read on, it said something about the one who stayed on the longest would get a million dollars, and they'd vote someone off every three days, and the program was called Survivor. This was around October 1999, and about the same time I was one of 18 breast cancer survivors from around the country who were selected to go on a three-day outdoor training program, sort of like Outward Bound. We were taught mountain biking and kayaking and rock climbing and orienteering. I was by far the oldest of these breast cancer survivors. I was then 62.

On the plane after this three-day experience, I had two realizations. One was, I can still do physical things. And two, our survival is not just about ourselves, but it's about inspiring other people, being an example for other people so they know they can survive, too. Not only survive, but thrive. So I came home and I applied. You were supposed to make a tape three minutes or less, and so I got out my little ukulele, dressed in khakis, went out in the woods here, leaned against a tree, and sang, "It's not the islands there, they're calling to me. It's not the balmy air, or the tropical sea. It's the chance to survive and come out alive, on the island of Pulau Tiga."

Many months after the whole thing was over, CBS gave me a bit part in the Dick Van Dyke Show, Diagnosis: Murder. In conjunction with that, I was talking to Peter Goldman, who was the casting director for CBS, and he said, "You know about your tape, don't you?" And I said, "No." And he said, "Well, Mark Burnett brought about 40 of the finalists tapes in. And when Les Moonves saw yours, he said, 'That one, I want.'"

What it was like right there at the start when Jeff Probst is giving you two minutes to grab as many supplies as you can and jump off the boat in the middle of the ocean and this whole adventure becomes very real?

When I hit that water, it was heaven. It was warm water. Warm, beautiful water. I had been honing up on my camping skills. I would go to bed with a length of rope and practice knots every night in case I had to make a raft or something. It was like all of this now, it was here! This is it! I remember feeling so wonderful hitting that water. Then it took us two and a half hours to paddle that big raft in.

What were your first impressions of your tribemates? What did you make of them?

I paddled for a while, but I got blisters on my thumb. We hit the beach and everybody started just talking and hugging and hollering, "Where are you from?" and da, da, da. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. So, I was just working. Older people have a strong work ethic, I think. So, I'm loading things, putting up the clothesline. The young people were quite outgoing. I remember just that the younger people seemed to come together more. And that was okay with me, except when the other gals went off to get water and I was on the beach working with the guys building a shelter.

They lifted the first crossmember, the high end of the lean-to, and they put it very high up. I can remember Rich putting it up there, with all of his height. And I said, "Hey, you guys, you know with the wind coming off the South China Sea, we need to lower that." And, "This is fine, Sonja," somebody said. Well, they just wouldn't listen to me. I felt like I was talking to my teammate's son. And I finally said, "Well, from the books I've read," thinking maybe that will impress them — like, it's not me that's saying this. I remember Sean Kenniff, the nipple ring doctor, as he was referred to, brushing me off in a very sweet way.

When the gals came back from getting the water, Kelly Wiglesworth, who is a professional river raft guide, said, "What the heck? That's way too high. Get it down." So they jumped to it. And so I decided, they're going to find out who I am with time. And so I'm just going to be in the background and do the work that needs to be done, and so forth. And that was a mistake.

Someone once asked me if I thought my being voted off early was due to ageism. And I said, "Oh, no." And you know why is because I had no concept of ageism. I was always good at sports and very active physically. I just didn't realize I was, to some of these people, an old lady. And of course there was Rudy on our tribe, but he had a very strong sense of his military self. And he didn't care. If he wanted something done, he'd bark at us in orders. But I pulled back. And so sadly they didn't really get to know who I was.

Yeah, that's important in those first few days to make those social bonds with people to protect yourself. And back then performance in the challenges was really important, and you obviously had a struggle in the department.

Some backstory on that. Reebok was one of our sponsors, and they had sent us some open sandal beach shoes. When I got to Borneo, right away they put blisters on my feet. A crew member said, "Oh, yeah. We got ours and threw them away two weeks ago when we got here." They had the same problem. I was allowed to go down to a store and get another pair of sandals. I got a pair of Pumas, but I got a black ballpoint pen and crossed out the white logo of the jumping puma. Nonetheless, I had these very painful blisters that would pretty much get sand in them if I walked on sand. When we got the message we were going to have our first challenge that night, we were told it was going to be a beach challenge, so I wore these beach shoes with a pair of socks under them. And very loosely tied and put together, Velcroed.

I was swimming in, and I remember Rudy saying, "Sonja, you can touch the bottom now!" And so I tried to touch, but these great big things were not allowing me really to run along. So I kept swimming, and then when we got in about waist deep, I did stand up and I was running, but this raft was going fast. These people were strong young people. It was like running with slippers through water. I couldn't keep up! And so you saw me go down: the most embarrassing moment of my life played again and again on TV. I had to yell, "Stop! Stop!" Because I was about to lose my grip on it.

I remember watching that and thinking you looked okay when you were in the water, but it was in that transition from water to land where you seemed to have the difficulty.

Right! And do you see why, with these loosely Velcroed sandals? Big rims that floated, otherwise I'd sink. And the socks. I just couldn't with the speed of the raft that the kids had gotten. I couldn't get my footing in this drag.

After that challenge, did you have a feeling that maybe you were in danger of being voted off?

This was on a spit out in the sea. And so we were taken there by a motorboat. On the way home, I said to my tribe, "I'm really sorry, you guys. I feel I cost us that." And Kelly put her arm around me and she said, "That's okay, Sonja. That could have happened to anybody." And as I looked around at the rest of the tribe members, they were looking at me peacefully, if not lovingly, and I knew then I was going to be voted off.

I had a rather sleepless night. I remember getting up to go to the bathroom as the sun was coming up. The sunsets and sunrises were just spectacular there. And Susan Hawk approached me, and she said, "Sonja, come here." And she started walking down the beach. I followed her and we stopped and she said, "Kelly, Stacey, and I are going to vote off Rudy, and we want you to join us. All the women voting off Rudy." But I said, "Well, I cost us that immunity challenge, so I feel it's only fair that I go." And she said, "Nah, we like you. We don't like Rudy."

The first thing I said was, "Should we be talking like this?" [Laughs] I had caused us to lose, therefore it was only fair for me to go. But when she said, "Nah, we like you. We don't like Rudy," I thought, well maybe there is something to this social survival. But then I said, "Well, I have to vote my conscience." What a stupid thing to say on Survivor! Especially with Susan Hawk.

For the first time then that afternoon, Stacey started getting her rear in gear and doing some work. Before we ever went to the island for that period where we were learning about things, I overheard Stacey saying to a guide, "Oh, I don't need to learn to build a shelter. Somebody else will do that." And that really made me feel not positive towards her. But here we are the third day and she is helping Kelly now build a fort for our shelter. So I thought, "Okay, in good conscience I can vote off Rudy." And, also, it was cool to be having a women front here. It was nice. When I got to the Tribal Council, I didn't think I was going to be voted off. But I was.

How did that feel when you found out you were the first one voted out?

Well, it was three for Sonja and three for Rudy. When the fourth one with my name came up, I thought, "Who's the Judas?" And I didn't find out for another three or four days until Stacey was voted off and came back to the resort where we were staying and told me that Susan voted me off. She said then, "She did it to me, too!"

So, after you were voted off, in your final words you said, "It was an awesome experience." But you also said, "Being the first to be voted out was a little humiliating." So after you had your torch snuffed, how were you feeling about the experience?

Well, I had mixed feelings, that's for sure. I was pretty beaten up.

You hurt your leg, which was bleeding.

Yeah, and that was only after I got on the island. Before the game started, we were taken out to this old fishing boat — it was the one we had sailed to the island on — and when I started to climb up over the railing, there were a couple of guys up there who put their arms down to pull me up. So they jerked me up and dragged my shins over the edge of the boat and really did a number on the front of my legs. To this day, I still have bruises that don't go away. Physically, I had mixed feelings because a bad knee that I had gotten in my years of playing tennis was swollen up big time. So physically, it was hard. Walking more than an hour and a half to Tribal Council up and down ravines and hills and so forth and that stuff, I don't remember feeling pain, but I do know that when I got back my knee was very swollen and had to go to the doctor.

They don't make people walk 90 minutes to Tribal Council anymore. You all had it rough.

They also get a lot more food. But that's because when you're starving and your metabolism drops, all you want to do is sleep, and that doesn't make for good TV.

The weird thing about Survivor is you all you live it once when you are out there, and then you live it all over again when it airs on television. What was it like once it aired back on TV a few months later?

I played sports for many years, and I was a pitcher for a women's softball team that was pretty competitive in the region. So I learned about sportsmanship, and that immediately kicked in for me. I mean, yeah, it was tough, but hey, congratulations — somebody loses, somebody wins. That's really what kicked in for me, and allowed me to really enjoy and make light of the fact that I was the first person voted off. If somebody recognizes me — which is nothing like it used to be — and asks, "Weren't you on Survivor?", I'll say "Yes, I have the dubious distinction of being the first person ever voted off Survivor." Now, how many people can say that? I think it's pretty funny.

Absolutely! Jeff Probst has now snuffed over 600 torches. As the show continued on and kept going and going, did you feel that there was something unique and special about being the very first person voted out? Because not many people remember the second person ever voted out of Survivor.

I know! And so that's had its rewards. I could no longer go to the grocery store without being sure I put on my lipstick and my makeup. People would ask me for my autograph, and I'd feel strange. And I'd say something like, "Well, this isn't worth anything unless it's on a check." It's a mixed bag. I'm very glad it happened to me at the age I did, because if it happened when I was younger, I would've really gotten caught up in it and it would've changed my life more, I think, not for the good. I became aware that it would be easy to lose myself and get caught up in this and I didn't want to do that.

Not only do you have this notoriety over being the first person ever to have her torch snuffed, but after 40 seasons of this show now, you are still the oldest female Survivor contestant to ever play the game. You must take some pride in that, right?

That's right. There is something to ageism, because I see it again and again, that the older ones often get voted off first in the subsequent shows. It's not so prevalent anymore, but I find myself having that bias too, but it's the opposite: I get kindly disposed towards older women, unless they're a jerk, just because look at them go!

Do you feel a little bad for the first person that's voted out every season?

Yes, I feel bad, but not because I'm still feeling bad. Probably I feel, "Why did they do that?” But usually there's a reason. I do remember one gal voted off in the early season, she was really a mess.

Sonja, the one thing I really want to know most of all is… where is the infamous ukulele?

It's hanging on my wall. I really should divest myself of all this memorabilia. Yeah, here it is!

And that's the same one that was on the island?

Yes! I've also got a ukulele that I took to the All-Stars reunion

Why did you pick the ukulele as your luxury item?

Well, I was going to take a Leatherman, a knife that has many different things you can use it, screwdrivers and scissors and everything. But we couldn't bring anything they said that would help us with survival. I play the ukulele, it started out around campfires and things, and I figured we'd have a lot of campfires, but the only time I ever played it was when Rich and I were alone on the beach and I sang the therapist's version of "Bye Bye Blues."

Now, I did play the ukulele on the big old fishing boat that we were transported in a couple hours to get to the island. Jeff encouraged me to sit up in the bow of the boat and strum the ukulele about going to an island. But it turns out that they couldn't use the song because of copyright things. But they could, it turns out, use what I called the "therapist's version" of "Bye Bye Blues" because it was a bit of a parody. And that's why they used it. The other one they wanted to use, it was like they'd have to pay 10 or 12 thousand dollars. I did ask Rich to sign my ukulele at one of our reunions. So on the back it says, "Hi Sonja. Your ukulele brought me joy, and you always do. Love, Rich Hatch. I survived."

As you look back on your Survivor experience, what thoughts or feelings do you have when you reminisce about it?

Oh my God, what an experience! I'm so fortunate to have had it. And I've learned lessons about how to treat it, regard it, live with it, and go with the flow. The whole thing was so fortuitous. I mean, if I hadn't had breast cancer, we probably wouldn't have broken up the relationship. And if I hadn't been alone, I wouldn't have tried out for Survivor. And if I hadn't tried out for Survivor, I never would've got to go around the country speaking and raising money for causes and trying to inspire people with breast cancer that they could not only survive, but thrive. And that's been amazing.

https://ew.com/tv/sonja-christopher-survivor-20th-anniversary/
 
#241 ·
‘Survivor’ Pulled From CBS Fall Schedule, S.W.A.T Moves Up From Midseason
By Peter White

Survivor will no longer be part of CBS’ fall schedule as a result of the COVID-19 production shutdown as S.W.A.T moves up from midseason as part of the network’s rejig.

Producers had hoped to get Survivor up and running to hit the fall deadline, but will not make it in time. The network said that producers are continuing to work with officials in Fiji on the “appropriate time” to start production with health and safety matters its top priority.

The show, which is exec produced by Jeff Probst, Mark Burnett and Matt VanWagenen, was set to air in a 8pm slot on Wednesday. Instead, the upcoming season of The Amazing Race will move from 9pm to 8pm.

The fourth season of Seal Team will move up an hour to 9pm and the fourth season of S.W.A.T, which was planned for midseason will join the Wednesday lineup at 10pm.

The move marks the first broadcast network rejig as the Coronavirus continues to cause problems with production. Expect a few more before the year is out.

Survivor postponed production in March on the day that the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The team, with exec producer and host Jeff Probst, had hoped to get back into production on season 41 in May.

CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl told Deadline that Survivor and The Amazing Race were trickier to get back into production than some other shows.

“That’s going to be a little more complicated because we literally have to navigate some international waters,” he said.

https://deadline.com/2020/07/survivor-pulled-fall-schedule-swat-moves-from-midseason-1202985760/
 
#242 ·
Survivor Season 41 Filming Postponed Until Spring, to Air Fall 2021 (Report)
By Nick Caruso

The country of Fiji has spoken.

Despite many U.S.-based productions heading back to work following March’s coronavirus-prompted production shutdown, Survivor may not resume filming until spring of 2021, according to a report by Inside Survivor.

The show, which films in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands, had hoped to begin filming Season 41 this fall, but due to the Fijian government’s new COVID-19 safety measures, the country’s borders remain closed to non-citizens.

Production is now said to be returning to its regular schedule, with a possible plan to film seasons 41 and 42 back-to-back between April and July of 2021. This would likely delay new episodes of the CBS reality staple until this time next year, which would result in the longest wait between seasons in franchise history. But even an April start date is, of course, contingent on the state of the pandemic and the Fijian government.

“[It’s] going to be a little more complicated because we literally have to navigate some international waters,” CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl previously told our sister site Deadline.

In July, Survivor was officially bumped from CBS’ fall schedule, as the network stated producers “are continuing to work with officials in Fiji on the appropriate time to start production on its next edition, with health and safety matters the top priority for everyone involved.”

Love Island, another CBS reality series which also films in Fiji, changed course and is currently shooting its new season Stateside in a Las Vegas “bubble.” But Survivor EP and host Jeff Probst recently shot down the idea of attempting production in the U.S., likely because the show’s infrastructure is very much set up in Fiji. (Not only does the show receive a healthy tax rebate for filming there, but four months of pre-production for Season 41 had already begun back in January, so set pieces, including props and equipment, are already in place.) Additionally, the show’s production team includes crew from all over the world, and, as is the case with Australia, some countries are still enforcing strict international travel bans.

Though Fiji’s tax rebates are currently frozen, Probst did say that the country wants production to continue once it is safe to do so. “They have figured out how to handle [the pandemic], and they just want to ensure that when we come shoot there, we don’t change that,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re working together with them, but they’ve been very production-friendly in terms of wanting it to happen.”


(why didn't they just film somewhere else???)
 
#243 ·
‘Survivor’: CBS Explores Options To Get Reality Adventure Series Back Into Production Safely
By Peter White

CBS is exploring a range of options and timelines to get the next season of Survivor up and running.

Production on season 41 of the long-running reality competition series was postponed in March – on the day that the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The team had hoped to get back into production in May for a fall premiere but various challenges posed by COVID-19 have stalled this.

The show traditionally films in Fiji but entry to the country is generally restricted, posing problems for a show that has a large crew. There were reports over the weekend that production may not be able to restart in the country until 2021.

However, Deadline understands that the process remains fluid and CBS is looking at a number of different solutions that would allow the Jeff Probst-fronted show to get back to production earlier in a safe manner.

Fiji is still a possibility for Survivor but other countries are also being looked at.

This was similar to the case of Love Island, the CBS dating reality series on air right now that previously filmed in Fiji and moved its second season to Las Vegas to ensure that it could get back on screens in a safe way.

Fiji has been the home of a number of U.S. productions; in addition to Survivor and Love Island, the island also played host to Amazon’s The World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge, hosted by Bear Grylls, which launched on the streamer last month.

Survivor had initially been on CBS’ fall schedule but in July, the network moved S.W.A.T up from midseason to replace it with the upcoming season of The Amazing Race, which is in the can, moving from 9pm to 8pm.

“In terms of Survivor and The Amazing Race, we’ll get those into production as soon as we can safely get back into production. That’s going to be a little more complicated because we literally have to navigate some international waters,” CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl told Deadline in May.

Survivor is exec produced by Probst, Mark Burnett and Matt VanWagenen.

 
#244 ·
I figured that Survivor of all shows would be best able to handle a lockdown since they are filming in one location that is isolated from everyone and everywhere else. They'd have to maybe rent a cruise ship to serve as production base, crew quarters and Ponderosa and reduce interaction with the locals as much as possible. I guess a major roadblock is Fiji not allowing them to film.
 
#246 ·
"(Not only does the show receive a healthy tax rebate for filming there, but four months of pre-production for Season 41 had already begun back in January, so set pieces, including props and equipment, are already in place.) "
 
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#248 ·
Truth is, I do wish they would move around periodically .. but, I guess they have a sweet deal in Fiji ..
 
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