Q: Because it had just happened to Ozzy, didn’t it occur to you that they might be trying to keep you from playing the idol?

A: In hindsight of course, but I just really thought it was going to be in the best interest of Natalie to be honest with me and for me to stick around because then it could have been four fans vs. the three favorites and we could have gone to the final four together and duked it out from there. But right now it’s not looking good for any of the fans. I think that’s sad because the favorites had their chance once already. It really should be fans in the finals and who wins the million dollars. Natalie has to be naive to think that they would actually take her to the end with them.

Q: Maybe it was the editing but didn’t you feel like everyone was looking at you to see if you were going to play the immunity idol
?


A: Yea, probably just the editing.
Q: Didn’t Amanda warn you?

A: No. If she had I would have played the idol.

Q: Did you talk to James and Erik and Amanda to see if you could get an alliance with them?

A: I talked to Amanda and we got along really well but James did not like me. He just thought I was some hot-shot white little boy or something like that and couldn’t get over the fact that I was confident and competent in what I was doing. He didn’t like me and I don’t think he was ever going to budge in his alliance or try and get me on board. Erik was just a pawn and didn’t really think for himself the whole game.

Q: Did you see the girls’ alliance forming? Were you aware of that at all?

A: I should have been more aware, but I wasn’t. That’s all I can say about that.

Q: You were still thinking fans vs. favorites?

A: I would have liked it to be that way and I may have just blinded myself by only thinking that way.

Q: You seem to be an Ozzy fan and you made the comment about being God-like. What did you think about Ozzy?

A: I loved Ozzy. He was a really cool guy and it was awesome to compete against him because you know when you compete against the best that is when you perform at your best as well. I’m a really competitive person and being out there and having someone to go head to head with was awesome. Upon returning it was totally cool. We got along fine. I had my guitar there, he busted out the harmonica, and we were playing music. The next thing we went surfing together but in the game there was obviously going to be that natural arch-rival competitiveness against each other. Outside of the game he’s just another cool guy that I’d totally be friends with. During the game when I was with Erik, Ozzy, and Amanda I wished I could have tried to get into their alliance and try to mix things up but they were so set in what they already had going on that there was no possibility of getting them to mix it up.

Q: I want to go back to the very beginning of it all back to the fans tribe younger vs. old thing. How did that come about? You seemed to be pretty much at the center of that.

A: I wouldn’t even say it was the young vs. the old it was the people that really wanted to be there and wanted to give 100% and the other people who were just there. That really threw my game off in the beginning when Joel sided with the weaker players and voted out Mary and Mikey B. Mary and Mikey B., we were pretty close. I thought we were close to Alexis too but that really threw things off. It’s a shame because Mikey B. loved being out there. Mary loved being out there. They loved the game. Then you got these two other people who stick around, Chet and Kathy who end up quitting the game. It’s just really sad and I feel that they should not have even been there in the first place. There was a reason why Kathy had applied God knows how many times and never made it. She was not supposed to be there.

Q: Do you have any comments about Chet?

A: Chet. Chet happens . I was there with him the whole time standing next to the doctors and they’re talking to him and it was not a life-threatening injury. You see the two ends of the spectrum. You see Jonathon who had a hole in his leg begging and crying to stay in the game, and then you have Chet, “My foot my foot!” To be out there with these people that didn’t even want to be there was really tough.

Q: It was true that Kathy and Chet were the outsiders but out of the group of seven they said you were the meanest; that you would take palms off their shelter and hide the machete. Is that accurate?

A: I wouldn’t say so. I mean obviously some of them are a little bit crazy and may not see reality as it is. There was one incident when we had gotten the fire built and I thought it would be a good idea to create a rain-protective shelter over the fire. I was going to stay up with the fire all night and keep it going because it was a pain in the butt to get the fire started. There were no palms on the beach. All the palm trees were too tall and we couldn’t get anymore and I was like “Could you spare a couple of palms so I could make a semi-shelter for myself and the fire?” and they just wanted no part of that. Actually during that moment Chet kind of blew up at me and said “Go stick the machete up my a#$*s!

Q: When you were on Exile Island with Ozzy and Chet, did he tell you that he had found the idol?

A: He hinted at it and I was watching his interviews and he was like “I knew Ozzy had it” and people were like “How did you know Ozzy had it” and he’s like “I have my ways of finding things out” and that sounded like total b.s. to me. I wasn’t going to sit around and not look for it. He was just lazy and didn’t have it in him to go find it. I found it, but it was the fake one. But that’s more than sitting on the beach and complaining about your foot.

Q: Did you tell anyone you found the idol?

A: No I did not. I wish I would have. The incident of the fake immunity idol sending Eliza home possibly could have been avoided. But honestly in finding the idol I was a bit skeptical at first, and then I was kind of like “this could be it; maybe they’re going for a different kind of idol this year; a little more inconspicuous” and then I got back to camp, I hid it, and then kept winning the challenges and didn’t really think about it for another ten days. That led to me being so naive. I didn’t even look at the idol for the ten to fifteen days that I had it.

Q: Well it was generous of you to give Eliza what you thought was the real hidden idol. Why did you think keeping Eliza was better for you than keeping the hidden idol for yourself?

A: Just because they could have turned the tide. If we would have been able to get rid of more of the favorites at that point it would have been four fans, Eliza, and then four favorites, so it could have been the fans down to the end instead of the direction things are going right now.

Q: Do you think that you got a fair edit?

A: Totally. I think CBS did a great job editing the show. Everything recorded on camera actually happened and everything was said and done. People don’t fall if they’re doing things that they’re embarrassed of later on. I don’t have any shame of things I did.

Q: Is there anything that wasn’t shown that you wished was shown?

A: Just some of the cooler things going on. I remember the day after the merge Ozzy, Amanda, Erik, and James, we all took the boat out and Ozzy and I were spear-fishing for a couple of hours and that was a really cool moment. They only have a limited amount of time and they really have to keep the story line going. They can’t take up the time with cool stuff.

Q: Out of the people left who would you like to see win?

A: I would love to see Alexis go to the end. She is a beautiful girl inside and out and I absolutely adore her. I got my fingers crossed that she can pull something out of her hat. Right now though it’s looking pretty bad for the fans. I wish I would have played the idol and it would have been Erik, Alexis, Natalie, myself, four fans remaining and the three favorites. The whole time I was out there I thought it should have been the fans vs. the favorites to the end. Parvati did a good job of getting Natalie and Alexis to think they could be on the inside of the alliance. If that works out for them in the end then more power to them, but I just can’t see that happening. The alliance between Cirie, Amanda, and Parvati is too strong and they would never take a fan to the final two or three with them.

Q: Were there any favorites that you wanted to be aligned with?

A: Yea, I would have loved to align with Amanda and Ozzy. Ozzy is a really cool guy and when we’re competing against each other of course we’re both going to go 110% but it was great working with him and the challenge where we won, but they were all so set in their alliance and at that point in the game they didn’t need to make a change. They didn’t need to take me into their alliance so they were doing what they thought was best for the game.

Q: It seems like this group of Survivors is pretty cut-throat.

A: I would say so, especially the girls. I mean listening to the stuff that Natalie said last night, I was blown away. It was real cut-throat from the very beginning. We had the ousting of Yaw-Man. We had Mary gone. We had Mikey B. sent home. All these moves that were like real serious especially in the beginning of the game. To vote out the players that loved and really wanted to be there and to keep around Chet and Kathy is tragic.

Q: Do you think on another season with a different group of people your trusting nature would have fit in better and you wouldn’t have been exploited?

A: I would hope so. I like being a genuinely honest person and I felt like in the beginning of the game when I was aligned with Mikey B. and Mary, and I thought Alexis was with us too, I liked having that feeling of openness and “we got to get rid of the weakest players”. And then Joel went in another direction. I hated the move. I think it was dumb and it ended up being his downfall, so hopefully he regrets making that mistake.

Q: Do you think there’s anyone left in the game that’s kind of like you that’s more trusting?

A: Erik might be a little bit too trusting, a little bit naive like myself, but I would say all of the fans are at this point, especially when they’re believing the b.s. that comes out of the favorites like “oh yea we’re in it till the end”. No way. I was saying the whole game you cannot trust anything the favorites say. They’ve played the game, they know how to play you, and they will if given the chance.

Q: After you found the immunity idol the first time why were you apprehensive about going back?

A: I was just like man, they’re sending me to Exile Island again. Natalie was taking my $500. I was going to keep it. I could go on a nice little vacation when I got home with that. But then shortly after her saying that I was thinking this ain’t so bad. I’ll probably find the idol and hopefully Natalie was doing it as a strategic move. Obviously that was a dumb thought. I was blown away by the things she said and did and I guess that what happens. You get cold-hearted when you are a cocktail waitress in L.A. for the last ten years.

Q: Yea you got tricked.

A: I wouldn’t say I was tricked really. I was just too trusting.

Q: How do you think the five girls are going to end up cutting each other’s throats?

A: I think it’s going to be the favorites eliminating the fans. I think Cirie, Amanda, and Parvati is a force to be reckoned with and Alexis and Natalie really need to pull something out of their hat because Erik is just floating up in the clouds. We’ll see.

Q: Do you know if they’re going to put the idol back on the island again?

A; Yes, I think it will always go back until there’s five people left in the game and then there will be no more immunity idol.

Q: Did James say anything to you at all?

A: I wish we could have gotten along. When I watched him in China I was like man James is awesome. I was really looking forward to getting to meet him but he just didn’t like me. He thought I was this young white punk. James got a generous edit I think because he is really an abrasive and vulgar man.

Q: Did you apply for this before or was this the first time?

A: This was the first time back in July. My friend called me three days before an open casting call at Brookfield Zoo. He said “You gotta go.” I was hesitant but then I slept on it and decided to go. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning, drove down to Brookfield Zoo, and was the second person in line. The camera was set up and they said “You got three minutes - make an impression on us” and I guess I did a good job.

Q: Would you do it again if they gave you the chance?

A: In a heartbeat. It would be a dream to come back and be a favorite.

Q: What did you learn about yourself?

A: I wouldn’t say it was a totally life-changing experience but definitely life-altering. It made me more aware of what really is important in life like family and friends and people you can trust. It was really sick coming home. I went out to Target and I was just disgusted at how much excess we have in our lives. The whole American culture is a culture of consumerism and there is so many things we don’t need that we think we do. It was just incredible to live out in the wild for thirty days having very little but being totally content and happy with life.

You can read more of Mary’s television blogs at www.myspace.com/italiangirl57


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