by Gina Scarpa

 

Former MLB great Jeff Kent managed to get through the game of Survivor this season without being recognized by a majority of his fellow players. The only one who did, Sarah Dawson, kept his identity a secret and didn't blow his cover after her elimination. He formed a fairly solid alliance with his Kalabaw tribemates but never wanted to keep returning player Jonathan Penner around. When he tried to turn on him after the merge, the plan backfired and Jeff was blindsided at tribal council, becoming the second member of the jury. We talked to Jeff in an exclusive interview about the game, the mistakes he made along the way, and what got him so heated about his elimination.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: After competing in the game of baseball for so much of your life, what attracted you to competing in the game of Survivor?
A. Jeff: Just to compete! I love to challenge myself in situations where you might not succeed and this was one of them. To survive the elements and challenge yourself socially, I had never done that at that level. To be able to lie and cheat and do things that you might not normally do in the course of your life, it was kinda fun. I wanted to win!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you surprised that no one besides Dawson knew who you were and that she didn't blow your cover when she was voted out?
A. Jeff: I guess that speaks to my celebrity! I didn't even know... she dropped a couple hints of knowing athletes. But I didn't have an idea she'd know who I was. It was cool for me because I was walking on eggshells for a while. It was cool to play a game and not have a stigma or answer to being somebody that I'm not anymore. In the past, that's affected people's position in Survivor and I didn't want that baggage to affect me. Whether you're' a sex therapist, a bartender, a secretary, it shouldn't matter so why should it matter that I was a baseball player?

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You injured yourself right in the beginning of the game but things seemed to improve. When did you start to feel 100% again?
A. Jeff: Jeez, I'm still not 100%! It hurt, I tore my ACL in half out there. It was a 50% tear and my knee blew up. I kept my pants on to hide it from anybody. I went onto the show only 8 months out from ACL surgery. I tore the same knee and I was scared for a little while but the rain came so we didn't have to do a whole lot. I kind of picked and chose which challenges I could do and not do. It worked out. I don't think it was a factor out there because I was able to manipulate my injury.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You were really determined not to let the returning players get too far in the game. Why didn't you see them as an asset with helpful knowledge or a person with a bigger target than you to shield yourself with?
A. Jeff: I did because I never voted any of them out. I never wrote Penner's name down once. There were a few big reasons why I had such a hangup with veteran players. One was that Penner was such a good player and such a big personality. I wanted all the attention away from me and onto him. It worked because they didn't talk about it me until the 11th hour. The second thing was that Penner is so good and I thought he was the best player out there. I thought if I could stay one step ahead, that puts me in the driver's seat to win the million bucks. Unfortunately, it played like I was obsessed with him. The second to last day I was on the island, I went to Denise which didn't make the final cut, and said, "What do you think about keeping Penner and Skupin and it's you, Malcolm, me, and Carter and we'll ride with those guys to the end." I evolved through the time but there was never an obsession.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When you made it to the merge, which Tandang players were you looking to work with the most?
A. Jeff: I took for granted, which is one of my mistakes, that I was getting to Malcolm through Denise. I thought I had a good relationship with Denise and thought I could influence her to get to him. I should've just gone to Malcolm straight up. It didn't work out that way. I was scrambling to get together with Pete because I knew he was ruling the roost and didn't have a great reputation. I got together with Pete and cut a deal with him where they owed me for saving him. It was hard for me to find anybody on that tribe to trust and it backfired on us.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: With you getting voted out and Abi and Malcolm announcing they have idols, has the game shifted dramatically, in your opinion?
A. Jeff: I do because the way that the dirty laundry came out on the last tribal council, what in the heck happened? They'll go back and go through all the loads. Penner will be on the chopping block again because he can't be trusted. He didn't vote the way he told everyone did. I'm wanting to find out how this is going to turn out. It is all over the map.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I loved your exit interview because you were just honest and said it sucked to get voted out, which it does. What part about your elimination was the toughest for you to take?
A. Jeff: Just knowing Penner didn't vote with us and I still don't know why he didn't vote for Pete. He voted for Abi. My name was never brought up until the last 15 minutes before tribal and I didn't have the chance to prepare to not get voted out. I should've prepared more for it so I was pretty hot!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How would you rate your experience of doing reality tv and playing Survivor? Is it something you'd like to do again?
A. Jeff: I wouldn't do a cheesy reality show. I think Survivor, over the years, has done a quality program which is why it's lasted so long. I was really nervous about how they'd perceive me. This was pretty cool!

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

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