by Gina Scarpa

All season long on Survivor: One World, I've been asking myself perhaps the same question you've been asking: Is Tarzan for real? If he's not throwing his catch phrase around tribal council ("The game is afoot, Jeff."), he's knocking Troyzan out of an immunity challenge, or wearing Kat's underwear on his head, or trying to form a solid final three alliance, and so on. On last night's episode, the women banded together one last time to get rid of the last man in the game and today, we talked to Tarzan in an exclusive interview to dig a little deeper into learning whether he's the real deal, or whether we've all been Tarzaned.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to try out for and compete on Survivor?
A. Tarzan: I've been a fan of the show and in reality, I can prove that I am an adventurer. With my life, I'm romantic. However, on the show, I didn't portray that. My wife and I are soulmates and that wouldn't be proper. I love adventures and I sought another one. I'm a guy that goes to a number of jungles. This seemed to be right down my alley.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you feel about the fact that there's now an expression about you, "I've been Tarzaned!"?

A. Tarzan: Well see, they don't know the half of it! I was subliminal on purpose. The producers are real intelligent and very knowledgeable. They warned me, "If you're too old, if you're a doctor, if you're smart, you're gone." It's very important to be the captain and be confident enough in my life. In this game, if I'm the captain, I'm out. In reality, it wasn't Colton. I was so subliminal, they couldn't tell that I was plotting. For 36 days, people were Tarzaned. I think the producers were slightly Tarzaned, too! I didn't wanna reveal everything to everyone! I'm flattered by that.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: They portrayed you as sort of a wacky character on the show. I was wondering if that was real...
A. Tarzan: Even though I'm a surgeon, that doesn't mean I can't be an actor.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You stuck with the women after the merge. What made you decide to go with them instead of say, Jay and Troyzan?
A. Tarzan: Well, the reality is... Troyzan and I formed a nucleus of an atom and bonded at the hip. We had many talks and similar interests. We brought in Jonas and Leif, and needed a fifth. Everybody didn't like Colton and he was ideal. He could run reconnaissance so we knew what the women were doing. I used to be a real man when I was young, but I'm 64! I could've beat any of them if I was a kid but the reality is, I was one of the weak ones. I used Colton as a shield. I was in the shadows and he advanced forward. Even Alicia didn't realize it wasn't him. It was me. At that point, when we joined... I discovered Troyzan was confused! We were no longer the nucleus. He was being separated because of the women. I realize I've lost my queen, if this is a chess game. I decided to ingratiate myself. Jay Bird never quite caught on, Leif and Jonas were too wishy washy. I tried to plan it eight or nine moves down the road and they were always a bit confused. If they're not smart enough to figure that out, someone can influence them. So I decided to join the girls and I kept my promise to help get rid of the guys. It was my ring toss that ultimately helped get rid of Troyzan.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: It came down to you and Chelsea last night. How did it end up being you?
A. Tarzan: Well, the reality is that Alicia had regarded me as a father figure. She should've trusted me. Kim, once before, had tried to maneuver with Jay Bird that Troyzan was going to try to vote him out. She tries the same maneuver on Alicia. It is true that I said similar things to a few different girls but you try to throw the scent off and you don't mean them. People who trust you know you don't mean it. There's Kim laughing, "Oh Tarzan said the same thing to me!" and Alicia bought it. Intelligently, Sabrina seconded it just as she seconded some other things against me, to denigrate me. When I talked to Alicia, I was hoping that she would see, "Hey, Tarzan has been at my side. He's not betrayed me, he treats me like a daughter. I trust him." No! I didn't get any credit! During tribal council, I told the girls, "Look if you're worried about the guys voting for me, I'll tell them I helped get rid of them." I did that and I also told them I was a millionaire. I had no interest in making it to the top three anyway. I didn't ever think I'd make it that far. I wanted a couple of those girls to make it to the end because there were girls I genuinely liked and were friends of mine. By the way, Alicia has a far better personality than portrayed.

Survivor: One World airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.

(Image courtesy of CBS)

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