« All News

Search RealityWanted News

Loading

 

 

 

 


 



 


 

 

 

Survivor: Blood Vs. Water - Exclusive Interview with Runner up Monica Culpepper

Posted on 12/18/2013 by Gina in Survivor and Cast Interviews

| More

Monica Culpepper of Survivor: Blood Vs. Water

 

by Gina Scarpa

 

Monica Culpepper was determined to prove that her husband Brad wasn't the only badass living their house and she certainly did that this season on Survivor: Blood Vs. Water. She won three individual immunity challenges post-merge and stayed true to her alliance with Tyson Apostol and Gervase Peterson, a pact they formed at the very beginning of the game. Monica finished the season in second place and talked to us today in an exclusive interview about her tumultuous ride to the end.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Coming into Blood Vs. Water, did you have one specific goal in mind?
A. Monica: Yeah, to not get blindsided! I was blindsided and that goes with the whole thing of people saying "She's paranoid out here!" Paranoid is a little harsh, cautious yes.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Why did you want to go to the end with Tyson and Gervase over Hayden and Ciera?
A. Monica: We had a connection, we had a bond, we had fun, I genuinely wanted to win the game and if it wasn't me, I wanted to be happy. It'll change Tyson's life and it'll change Rachel's life. I was never going to go with Hayden and Ciera, that would've been the dumbest move in history. Ciera said I was number four but if I went with them, I'd be number four with them. You're thinking about whose going to come out of Redemption and I thought it would be Laura M. I've won the most individual immunities, I'm the most selfless person out here... I could be voted out and be fifth. The climate of the game at that point was Hayden was Mr. Congeniality. It would be, "Look how great Hayden is, he even got Monica"! I made it to the end with the two biggest gangsters and hoped the jury would be a little bitter.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You took a little bit of a beating at the final tribal council. Did that surprise you?
A. Monica: Not at all. Going into that, I had been called a doormat, people said I'm paranoid, a puppy dog... I was prepared for fireworks and that's exactly what it was. What you saw was a small fraction. For every question Tyson got, I got five and for every question for Gervase, I got ten. Everyone was asking me the same question over and over. That's why I said, "What do you all want from me?" I felt like they just hadn't met a nice person. I'm not willing to run people over for a million dollars. Maybe that came across as disingenuous but that's just who I am.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You really killed it, especially in the second half of the game, and you talked a lot about wanting to prove yourself to your husband and kids. Did you accomplish that?
A. Monica: Well, you're sweet to say that! The kids know Mom, I'm a grinder. I grind in life. If you need money raised, I'll get it done and make it happen. Were my kids proud? Hell yeah! Were they surprised? No. It didn't take me going on Survivor to show them that I'm tough. I wanted to set a good example to win as much as I could. Brad played one of the most selfless games that he could. The moves that he made put me in position to get second place.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: There were a lot of attacks on Brad in the beginning of the game, particularly from Candice. Do you feel like that overshadowed who he really is, both as a player and a person?
A. Monica: Unequivocally yes. It's very unfortunate. He's one of the most polarizing, interesting players. That hate that Candice was spewing, poisoning Marissa, clouded the player and person that Brad was. They were never voting him out. Caleb wanted to get him before he got him. What was left out of the edit was that Jeff said on the beach the first very day, "Monica I want a good answer when I come to you. I don't want some vanilla, beauty pageant answer." He said, "Why did you write down Candice's name?" I said, "I do know you, you're beautiful, intelligent, and the least trustworthy person here." From that point on, her hate was to me and she took it out on Brad and it was very unfortunate.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: To get asked back to play again and be part of the first Blood Vs. Water season must have meant a lot to you. What's your takeaway from this season?
A. Monica: To be the first to play loved ones will always sit in my heart. I may not have won the million but the people I've talked to say "I show my daughter what a tough lady does. When people were throwing stones, you never fought back. You had integrity and you were strong." It's just been awesome! Those types of impressions when I don't even know them has been awesome. Brad and I are so glad to be a part of it. I'm retired from Survivor, you saw my story, nobody wants to see it again. I want Brad to play again. He put himself before me and now it's time to see him.

 


(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa


  


Rate this article

  • Currently 5.00/5

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast) (Log in to vote!)


blog comments powered by Disqus

Go back to the previous page