by Gina Scarpa

 

Perhaps Christine made a mistake on Survivor: South Pacific when she called Coach a "temporary player" on the first episode. After all, she was the first one from her Upolu tribe sent to Redemption Island but she shocked everyone when she defeated one competitor after another in the duels - until she was matched up against Ozzy. Her game finally came to an end and today, we talked to her about her Survivor experience in an exclusive interview.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Where do you rank on the scale of someone who has never seen Survivor to the biggest fan of all time?
A. Christine: Somewhere in the middle, maybe? I was a fan of it. I just like watching it. I never watched it like Cochran did.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I'm sure you get asked this a lot but your reaction in the first episode to Ozzy, and especially Coach, playing the game this season was pretty strong. Do you wish you had stayed quiet?
A. Christine: No, I don't think so. I think I said what I said and I wanted to say it. The mutterings from my tribe just prior to them entering the arena was that they should've been temporary. They were saying, "Oh, they can't stay long. Look what happened last season."

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think age played a factor into you getting voted out first?
A. Christine: I don't think it was younger versus older. I just didn't feel it was like that. I think had Ozzy come to Upolu and Benjamin gone to Savaii, things would've been different.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Speaking of Coach, have you gotten any response from him because you insist on only calling him Benjamin? I imagine he doesn't like that very much.
A. Christine: No. None at all. It is his name after all.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think you can be friends with the members of your tribe outside of the game?
A. Christine: Oh, I think so. Most of what Upolu did was part of the game. What Benjamin was doing as far as barking out orders and being overall lazy, that I just don't find a good quality in a person that I would call a friend. I can't see us being BFFs.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you handle Redemption Island? The experience of being out there for so long by yourself can't be what you pictured for yourself coming into the game.
A. Christine: No, I didn't expect to spend a majority of the time by myself. It happened that way and in the beginning, it was quite lonely and being left alone with your thoughts would break anyone. It didn't break me but it cracked me a little. Once I worked through that, I felt like it was home. I felt quite comfortable there. I kept myself busy and tried not to dwell on my family and what they're doing and that kind of stuff.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I'll admit that part of me was happy Ozzy went back into the game but there was a lot of me that felt you really deserved it and wanted you back in, too!
A. Christine: I felt I deserved it, the one to go back. I don't understand why he felt he had to knock me out. I thought I made it abundantly clear that I would not align myself with Upolu post-merge but he felt he needed to do that. I think I paid my dues at Redemption Island.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did you surprise yourself with how well you did in those duels?
A. Christine: I did! I really did! I just wanted to get through one challenge. I thought, "If I can make it here for three days and get through a challenge, that's pretty damn good." But you know, the next thing I know, 14 days later, I'm still there and doing well. I was pretty proud!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You were out of the loop being on Redemption Island for a majority of your time there. Anything surprise you as you watch the show?
A. Christine: Everyone that came through really gave me a lot of information of what was going on at the beach. As I'm watching it on tv, none of it was a huge shock. The only big shocker was Ozzy's plan. That was the biggest one because I had no idea. When he came to Redemption Island, he said what he planned on saying, that it was Cochran and that he blinsided him. I believed him!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You must have believed him because it was dark and you couldn't see his face. His "performance" at the duel was pretty bad.
A. Christine: Yeah, that's what I'm hearing! I was just so focused on the challenge itself that I didn't hear what was going on. People have said that it really was an unconvincing performance.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What is the biggest thing your'e taking away from your time on Survivor?
A. Christine: That if you put your mind to something, you really can do it! It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to something. What I found most amazing was that it's unbelievable what your mind and spirit and body can get used to. I found my bamboo bed became comfortable after a while! It's amazing!

 

Survivor: South Pacific airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

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