“I Didn’t Do a Good Job of Selling”: An Interview with Survivor: Cook Island’s Cecilia
by David Bloomberg -- 09/29/2006
Cecilia was voted out just shortly after the tribal shuffle. How does she think that affected her chances? Did she know she was going? What did she do to save herself that we didn’t see? And what does she look back and say she could have done differently? Cecilia tells us everything right here in this interview!
Cecilia answered a few questions on The Early Show, but then it was time to really find out what was going on. She spoke to RealityNewsOnline about how things went down and what we didn’t see. Read on to find out more.
RealityNewsOnline: What did you first think when you found out the tribes were divided by race?
Cecilia: It was a non-issue for me. It made sense, unless you are adopted, you most likely grew up with people who looked like you. I was a bit concerned that it would show stereotypes, but in the end it showed that people are people, regardless of color and race.
RNO: What do you think of all the hoopla that’s been going on before the first episode even aired?
Cecilia: It was awesome because I knew how it played out. So to see people get their panties in a bunch was fun. I think CBS did an awesome job of casting really diverse people. It wasn’t going to be a bad thing. I was just like, “You wait and watch. Get your panties out of a bunch!”
RNO: What was your strategy coming into the game?
Cecilia: Really, I didn’t have anything set. I just wanted to lay low, have fun, be nice, not fight, and work as hard as hell and let people get to know me and like me. That worked fine with my original tribe because we had time to get to know each other. When we merged, it was so quick, so we didn’t have time to get to know each other. That sucked.
RNO: What did you do, either physically or mentally, to prepare yourself for Survivor?
Cecilia: I ate. I put on weight before I went out there. [I figured] this is going to be the one time I get to eat all the goodies I want. I went swimming in a lake. I looked at all the internet news and stuff on Survivor to see what worked. Thanks to all the people who post stuff online, because they helped me… sort of.
RNO: Why did you decide to vote out Billy last week instead of Ozzy?
Cecilia: I was always on the Billy bandwagon and wanted to throw the challenge, he was sucking the life out of us. My vote was set, there was never any question in my mind. Really it was a combination of things. Billy just couldn’t be trusted. It started off with him trying to make an alliance of the girls against the guys and guys against the girls and trying to break the tribe up. Add to that the fact he didn’t do any work and waited for us to feed him. It was his attitude, he couldn’t really be trusted. Have you ever been at a party where there’s a party pooper who is destroying it for you? That was him.
RNO: What did you think when Billy whipped out the Candice love story at Tribal Council?
Cecilia: Oh. My. God. Was not the funniest thing you’ve ever heard in your life? I tried to be polite and not laugh. He had told me earlier and I was like that’s weird, whatever. But I wasn’t going to bring it up and embarrass him. That’s why the first thing I did when we came back [from the tribe shuffle] was ask Candice. At that time, I hadn’t seen the exchange, so I was like maybe it happened. Anything could happen. After seeing it on TV and talking to Candice, I was like, oh Billy come on now.
RNO: On The Early Show, you mentioned that you had a plan and people quit, but “you have to stay with the program.” Besides the conversation we saw with you, Ozzy, Jessica, and Sundra, what other moves did you make to ensure your alliance was solid and people were indeed staying with the program?
Cecilia: Ozzy and I were definitely on the same page. I went out to Sundra and talked to her about it. I wasn’t the pushy used car salesman that Jonathan was, but I should have been. I tried to reach people on a personal level. Sundra was like, I can trust you guys, so it was three and we needed two more. I spent all afternoon with Flica because she had been very against the plotting and voting people off.
RNO: What show did she think she signed up for?!
Cecilia: She probably thought she was going camping. (laughing) But I spent a lot of time getting to know her in the hope that we could be friends. I didn’t do a good job of selling her the strategy aspect of the game. That was the program. Cao Boi was the first one who said we need to get the princess out of there. I should have been more a part of it instead of letting it happen. I saw it happening and knew they were going after me. But I started getting sick and decided I was ready to go instead of fighting for it. But I left my socks and they’re probably going to be using them.
RNO: Did you expect alliances to form so quickly on the shuffled tribe?
Cecilia: I did, and that Becky and Yul alliance was obvious like me and Ozzy was pretty obvious. I had a gut feeling that Jonathan was in on that. I knew it was the three of them. I figured Candice was a part of it. It was so quick – we really had a day, and half of that day we spent in the tent because it was raining. There wasn’t a lot of time to talk strategy. When they voted for me it was not for any particular reason.
RNO: Why do you think you were viewed by some as the weakest link?
Cecilia: All I can think of, and I certainly wasn’t – I was definitely a strong contender, especially among the females. This is where the Billy thing came back to bite me. Maybe they saw how I wasn’t trying in the previous challenge. Either that or the fact that I was puking my guts out on the boat like everybody else. But there was no way they could have made any assessment.
RNO: You said you were sick, could they tell that?
Cecilia: I don’t know, I should have gotten a Cao Boi red dot, maybe that would have helped. I was laying on the raft in the sun, shivering. Maybe they could see that.
RNO: Did you realize that Jessica had spilled the beans about the vote to Jonathan?
Cecilia: I didn’t, but I had spilled the beans to Jonathan myself. He came up to me, used car salesman that he is, and asked what’s going on. I told him we all decided on Becky, Becky’s gone. So he already knew, even though they showed Flica telling him. Why’d I do that? I dunno, I just wasn’t thinking.
RNO: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?
Cecilia: I had the most amazing experience. The whole thing from before the show to sitting here talking to you. It was amazing and I would do it again. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
RNO: Thanks again, Cecilia!
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