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RNO Interview with Terry
« on: May 20th, 2006, 8:17am » |
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“I’m Good With the Whole Thing”: An Interview with Survivor: Exile Island’s Terry
by David Bloomberg -- 05/19/2006
Terry came in third place on Survivor: Exile Island, but could have won it all if Danielle had picked him. Why did he use a soft-sell on her instead of putting on the pressure? What does he think was his biggest mistake? What does he think of viewers saying the final challenge was biased against him? Plus, Terry explains a bit about the rules for using the hidden immunity idol and talks about what would have happened if he had given it to Danielle in the final four. All this and more is right here!
Being a reality TV writer can be interesting and fun sometimes, such as when there was a little confusion about when I would be interviewing Terry. I wasn’t home and he called my house, so my wife answered. It took her a few seconds to realize she was talking to the Terry from Survivor! Not the kind of phone call you get every day. But once we connected, Terry was great to talk to, and even in the middle of the interview, discussion turned to coaching Little League baseball (which both of us do) and other topics.
RealityNewsOnline: What was your original strategy?
Terry: My original strategy was to push leadership onto Dan and for me to do well in the challenges, and me to be a maniac helping out at camp – work really hard, step up to lead if I have to, but I didn’t want to show my cards. So I tried to have Dan be the leader. From there, I wanted to make a strong alliance, which we did, and play hard at the challenges.
RNO: In your jury speech, among other times, you said that you were not deceptive in your time on Survivor. Many people have wondered: What do you have to say about breaking your alliances with Ruth-Marie and, more importantly, Dan?
Terry: When Dan and I and Austin and Nick made our alliance, it was basically to the final four. Little did we know it was going to be our tribal final four. As strong as I felt about Dan, I felt that strong about Austin and Nick by that point. What you didn’t see on TV was when I went to tell him, I didn’t lie to him. It was total honesty. It was like breaking up with an old girlfriend. He said, “you guys should just vote me off, I messed up three challenges.” At that point, kind of as a team leader, I thought there might be one more challenge before the final nine. I looked at Dan as possibly the weakest of us. He was getting dizzy at the time and shaky on his legs. The guy lost 32 pounds!
With Ruth-Marie, Dan wanted to bring her in and, yeah, I could say we never shook on it but I told Dan that’s fine. Those were my words, me not thinking that it would have to come down to a choice between Sally and Ruth-Marie. Then watching Sally perform on the balance beam, she was running with Austin. I thought, “we’re going to need her on the next challenge.” I put on my managerial hat and tried to do the best thing for the tam. Was it the smartest decision I ever made? Was it the best? You don’t know because of 20/20 hindsight. Maybe having Dan and Ruth-Marie could have swayed the vote with Cirie and Bruce. Who knows. If I had won, I wouldn’t think twice about any of my decisions.
RNO: When you were telling Danielle how much easier you would be to beat than Aras, was any of it true or were you just telling her what you wanted her to think?
Terry: I was pumping her up, and you only saw half the conversation. I was trying to make me look worse in her tribemates’ eyes. But when I got back to the loser lodge, they told me I would have won 7-0. I tried pumping her up, saying I’m the one they hated the whole time. But that’s not true – I fed them, I was the hardest worker around camp with Aras. I didn’t piss them off. Cirie and I got into it once, but that was like a family argument. You have those.
RNO: Why did you use the soft-sell, and do you think a hard-sell from you, like Aras used, could have changed her decision?
Terry: I couldn’t do the hard-sell, I had to do the soft-sell. And after we talked, Aras told me he don’t know what I said, but she broke the promise with Aras and went back to the drawing board. He couldn’t believe whatever I said to her really swayed her. I couldn’t do the hard-sell with her, so I tried pumping her up. I would have just pissed her off if I would have done the hard-sell.
RNO: Did you realize that Danielle essentially had no chance of winning at that point?
Terry: No. I actually thought she made the best choice for her. In my heart, I knew she would lose against me. I thought she had a better chance with Aras. Once I figured out that side of it, I figured Aras would win. But I don’t think either of them knew. But had I been there in the final two, I would have been positive that I was going to win.
RNO: Looking back, do you think there is anything you could have done using the hidden immunity idol to turn the game around sooner and get Casayans to jump ship?
Terry: I was willing to give that thing up to get numbers, and they knew it. Not only was I trying to work it, but I was trying to get them to work it. With 20/20 hindsight, yeah, maybe we could have gotten rid of Aras, but we didn’t have the numbers. Would things have been easier? Yeah, but we tried. I wasn’t willing to give it up unless we could get numbers. Also, we thought Austin was going when Nick went, so giving it to Austin ahead of time wouldn’t have worked. Then Danielle didn’t flop and Courtney didn’t flop – which she totally regrets now. That’s hindsight.
I was willing to give that thing away to save Sally and Austin. I was really bummed out, because I wanted to try.
Terry continues: My biggest personal mistake with the hidden immunity idol was Shane had [my wife] and I so convinced that we were going to hook up after Danielle was voted off. I should have thought of the worst-case scenario, which was Shane leaving, and told Shane to put it in his pocket. If he needed it, he’d know these guys were not his friends. He would not have backstabbed me and he was a man of his words. That’s one thing they didn’t show, was that prior to bringing his son [on the reward], he and I had a really good relationship. We’d go off and talk about everything. Yeah, we talked smack, but he’s a really good guy. That was my biggest strategic mistake with the hidden immunity idol.
The reason I didn’t give Danielle the idol at the final four was that it had to be done on the island and had to be documented. It was against the rules to give it to a person later. And if I had given her the idol on the island, she’d have given Aras and Cirie the wink and the nod and I’d have been gone. That came out afterwards, she said she would have done that.
To me, losing the whole thing was when I lost the final four challenge. If I had won, I would have given Danielle the idol, we would have gotten rid of Aras, and Danielle would have taken me to the finals.
RNO: Of all your challenge wins, which one are you the most proud of?
Terry: Probably the one hanging with the weights. That took the most will and determination.
RNO: Speaking of challenges, I’ve heard a lot from viewers who believe the final challenge was biased towards lighter people like Danielle. What is your opinion of that?
Terry: I’m not one of the ones who has come out and said that wasn’t fair. We were at the up-fronts [promoting CBS shows] and people were telling me in front of Danielle that I should have won. I had to fend off comments toward Danielle, but they wanted to say their peace.
What I’m going to say about that is I thought I was in there when I saw that challenge. I have surfed a lot and have pretty good balance. Not until I got to that third lily pad did I think that was not for me. If we’d have made it past the third, no way could me or Aras have done the fourth. But it’s not all about challenges, it’s a social show. Some of the challenges were more suited toward me, maybe some toward Nick or Austin.
I remember falling off and thinking, “oh there goes a million dollars.” That’s just the way it goes. Had I wished it was more of a stand on a pole or a balance thing? Yeah, that might have been better suited for me. It’s the luck of the draw and that’s the way it goes. I’m good with the whole thing, no sour grapes here.
RNO: Why do you think you couldn’t crack the Casaya alliance, even when it appeared to be in certain members’ best interest?
Terry: You know what, it was harder to do it when Sally and Austin and Nick were there, because those guys [the Casayans] felt safe in their own skins. They didn’t have a reason to jump ship, except for Bruce. Bruce and I got along really well, and he really liked Sally and really really liked Austin and Nick. We knew we had an ally in him, but we just couldn’t get the other person to flop. They knew they were safe at least to the final five, so to come over to the other group and be final five, why piss off a bunch of people and still be number five? Who knew I was going to win all those challenges? And it got harder near the end as well because there was going to be a majority of Casaya on the jury and they were afraid of pissing off their tribemates.
RNO: What would have been your main points to the jury if you had made it to the final two?
Terry: I would have said I didn’t vote you, you, you, or any of you off. Second, I think I proved myself in the challenges. Third, I worked my butt off around camp. Aras and I were feeding the camp except for the one fish Cirie caught. I was bringing in six, seven, eight fish a day. That’s why Danielle said they started taking a liking to me. There was no comparison with Danielle and me. If I had been there and against Aras, there would have been, but he backstabbed and I didn’t.
RNO: Why did you vote for Aras?
Terry: Like I said, I was so used to writing his name down. (Laughing) He was head and shoulders above her. He excelled in challenges, she did not. Aras was always there. He worked around camp. He brought in fish. He played a good strategic game. In my jury speech, I congratulated both on their strategy but that was cut off for TV. They only showed the challenge stuff. I wanted them to rate themselves on survival and challenges. Aras was very humble in both, and Danielle inflated her numbers on both.
RNO: While many players say Survivor is the hardest thing they’ve ever done, you don’t seem to have struggled as much – how would you characterize it?
Terry: Physically, Survivor was the hardest thing I’ve done as far as losing weight and the actual survival part of it. That made it really difficult. The challenges definitely were not the hardest thing, they were a lot of fun. The mental side, not even close. My mind was always going, but on an island, that’s probably a good thing. Landing on a carrier at night, nothing comes close. The hardest thing mentally was being away from my wife and kids. I dreamt about them all the time.
RNO: Do you feel you were accurately presented on the show?
Terry: Oh yeah. No problem with the editing. There were a couple things I wish they would have added in to make me look a little softer, like the Shane relationship. And maybe bringing in something bout me fishing. But I won a lot and I’m a little demonstrative after I win. Those guys, every day they said I was going home. Every day the smack was coming at me from the guys! Those guys would fight more with Courtney and Danielle than with me. I’m a good guy, I like being with people. They frustrated me by not letting me in their little personal circle. I am a social guy. But afterwards, they said, “you weren’t getting inside in the game.”
RNO: Here’s a post-show question: After watching Jenna pretty much attack you for much of the season on Survivor Live, were you surprised she was so docile when you appeared on the show?
Terry: No, because I heard she was a little intimidated and a little worried about me showing up. I heard she got an earful from Tom Westman [after he won Survivor: Palau, when Jenna had been saying similar things about him during the show]. She was pretty contrite and is an okay person. The problem with Jenna and other prior Survivors is that they should have a little more insight and should be more professional and insightful towards what they write on why Terry was plying the way he was. I’m an athletic guy, I’m a smart guy, but did I really have a chance on the strategy? She didn’t play that game. I’m not bashing her game, I don’t like coattail people, but I have come to appreciate that type of game. Even though it was to my detriment, it was nice to watch Cirie play because I didn’t know what she was doing. I don’t necessarily like the game she played but I thought she played it well. That’s why I thought some of these other folks should appreciate other people’s games.
Anyway, I was a nice guy to Jenna and tried to rise above it a bit. She didn’t have a lot of things to say. As I sat down next to her at a GMC segment, I told her there would be no dissing, I don’t want to hear it. I had my game, you had yours. Don’t dis me.
RNO: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?
Terry: One of the things I found that was a detriment to being Exile Island that wasn’t mentioned was that you didn’t get to view treemail. You came into the challenge cold. In your head, if there were any clues to what the challenge would be, you didn’t get them. When it got to individual, it got hard. People weren’t willing to tell you stuff, especially me.
I would do the show again. It was a wonderful experience. Mark Burnett had come to see us before we landed and gave us a really good pep talk, especially the older guys. And we did make a good showing of ourselves for the older guys and got three in the final seven. I really appreciate the opportunity to compete on national TV. It was a lot of fun.
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