by Gina Scarpa

This season, on Survivor: Samoa, it was clear that tribal lines ran deep… with the exception, of course, of Shambo.  At the merge, it was an all out war between Foa Foa and Galu, until the Galu tribe tried to throw John under the bus.  John stepped out on his own, voted out Laura, and found himself aligned with Foa Foa for better or worse.  Putting some faith in Russell, John revealed that he knew too much and posed a threat to his game.  Suddenly, the target lay squarely on John’s back and, at tribal council, he was blindsided and sent to the jury.  Today, John spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about his experiences on the show.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you decide to try out for Survivor: Samoa this season?
A. John: I didn’t try out, actually.  Some buddies of mine ran into some casting associates at a bar.  They sold her on me and they went home and she called me that night.  I had never seen an episode in its entirety before I went in interviews.  It’s the same as all those reality shows.  “Why do people suck in those challenges so much?  I can totally beat them!”  Knowing how fun it is and what an interesting complex challenge it was, I would’ve been applying since 2000.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think it was to your advantage or disadvantage that you didn’t know the game that well?
A. John: I think it depends.  For someone like me who was very strategic and always tried to make the correct decision, it’s a disadvantage because you have less information to go off of as to what people tend to do.  I think for someone that might be a relationship player, it might do them well to go in and not worry about that stuff.  It’s hard to say.  I would’ve loved it if I was a fan the whole show and seen every episode.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Who were you close to on the Galu tribe?
A. John: Eric was my best ally out there, certainly.  It was a bummer that that happened to him. Dave and I worked well together.  Leading up to the merge, Dave’s reasoning for things started to change and that was concerning.  Dave is someone with a high, high IQ, capable of working through problems.  Post merge, some of Dave’s thinking started to change and then it concerns you, right?  I was saying, “Why are things changing, Dave?”  All of a sudden, our goals weren’t aligned.  Those dynamics had changed.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Why do you think that Foa Foa was able to turn their game around at the merge?
A. John: I don’t think they turned their game around.  I would say that they were not as successful in the immunity challenges premerge as Galu was but I think their game was still very effective.  They almost had more experience, going to tribal council and with each other.  When you’ve got 10 people on your beach to worry about, it’s harder to build relationships.  I wouldn’t say it was a major turnaround but a turnaround in the numbers.  They came in as really effective team with a diverse mix of players that were playing different positions.  I wish I was part of that team.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: There have been a lot of questions over where Shambo’s loyalties lie.  Did you trust her?
A. John: Yeah absolutely!  You trust Shambo to do what Shambo’s going to do.  When she says she’s voting for Dave, she’s voting for Dave.   I wish she hadn’t told him that.  Shambo and I had a good relationship but it’s hard to work with someone like that for a long time.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are your thoughts on Russell?
A. John: Everything went down according to plan.   You work with somebody like Russell.  You know you can’t trust him but you’re well served to work with him.  I certainly didn’t trust him at all from the very beginning.  It’s a comforting feeling to be able to trust someone out there but you can’t trust anyone!  As we’re talking on last night’s episode, we’re talking but we’re thinking that we have to vote the other one off.  You can’t show what’s going on but I certainly didn’t trust Russell.  It’s the right move for him to vote me off and as I become more powerful, I’m only going to take power from him.  No hard feelings with Russell.  He’s good.  He’s the best there ever was.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: As a member of the jury, what kind of player do you have the most respect for?
A. John: I have respect for players who executed well.  I think out of the respect that I have for this game, when I cast my vote, it’s a tough decision.  A lot of people are bitter and are picking the lesser of two evils.  Out of respect for the game, I wanted to make the right decision.  I wanted to grind it out one last time and figure out who the best person was.  I’m different in my line of thinking than others.  This is a game that you have to win.  You can’t just float by without making any moves and then convince me that you did stuff. 



Survivor: Samoa airs Thursdays at 8pm ET on CBS.

(Image courtesy of CBS)

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