Survivor's Colby Crushed
by Angel Cohn
http://www.tvguide.com/news/insider/040317a.asp Colby Donaldson thought his leadership ability and winning smile could score him victory on Survivor: All-Stars. He also thought he'd persuaded the Mogo Mogo tribe to eject his Australian Outback nemesis, Jerri. The 29-year-old Texan thought wrong. The conniving witch from The Surreal Life successfully schemed with Lex to eject Colby instead! Oh, well. At least he's got that ad campaign for Schick razors to console him. Here, Donaldson talks to TV Guide Online about his ouster, that inflated ego and his efforts to break into acting.
TVGO: Were you surprised that Lex turned on you?
Colby Donaldson: I knew I was going to be a target. I just didn't realize that I was going to be executed so quickly. I didn't see it coming — the logic didn't make sense to me to start eliminating the strength of a tribe so soon. A lot of people think that Lex made a great move by getting rid of me, and indeed, he did dupe me.
TVGO: Are you friends outside of the game?
Donaldson: Yeah, we are friends. We don't hang out and grab beers all the time, but we were friends before and we are friends afterwards. I don't allow anything that happens during the game to affect me personally. It's a game.
TVGO: Jerri got even with you for voting her out in Australia. How does it feel?
Donaldson: She said [during tribal council] that this vote was based on revenge. And I guess she's been harboring those feelings and waiting for that moment for three years. She finally got it. Good for her. I hope she sleeps well at night.
TVGO: You haven't harbored ill will towards her since the old days?
Donaldson: I haven't thought about her in the last three years.
TVGO: You told Ethan you had a whole speech prepared when you voted for Jerri, but then you didn't say a word. What happened?
Donaldson: The funny thing is, and I went back to watch the episode, it's actually Ethan who says that. It is.
TVGO: Really? I could have sworn it was you.
Donaldson: I've gotten so many questions about that. But I didn't say that. Obviously, at the very end I didn't say a word. The only reason it went down that way is that I probably would not have been nice had I said something. So I chose not to. [Editor's Note: After double-checking a tape of the episode, TV Guide Online is 99 percent sure it was Colby who made the comment.]
TVGO: Have acting lessons helped with Survivor by improving your ability to lie well?
Donaldson: No, because it is just not in my nature to be deceptive. I don't thrive in that arena. I realized early on what it was going to take to do well in this game: be completely duplicitous and deceiving. I'm not dumb. I know that's what it takes to succeed in this game. I just don't know that it means that much to me to do that.
TVGO: Did you worry that All-Stars could hurt your acting aspirations?
Donaldson: It was a thought that entered my mind, sure. But this business is inundated with risks and you've got to take them in order to find the rewards. Whether it was going to help or hurt, I don't know. I simply wanted to go back and play the game that I fell in love with three and a half years ago.
TVGO: Are you glad you went back, even though you lost?
Donaldson: Absolutely. It was a great opportunity. I would be lying if I said I didn't wish I did better and made it farther down the road. But I certainly don't have a problem going to bed at night because I got voted out.
TVGO: Do you regret that your tribe wasn't having more fun, like the Chapera team?
Donaldson: As an entire tribe, we [may not have] had a lot of fun. But everyday, Lex, Ethan and I would go out and have a blast fishing and clamming. We found a great dive point off a cliff. We would go out swimming and just act like kids. You can't imagine what you are not seeing [on the show]. Drama makes for good TV, so if they are showing one tribe having fun, they are dang sure not going to show the other tribe having fun, because it doesn't look good. I would love to believe it is a game, but at this point, it is a show. I played a game back in Australia; I was part of a show on All-Stars.
TVGO: You seemed more arrogant and cocky this time. What's your take?
Donaldson: I certainly wouldn't ever characterize myself as being arrogant or cocky. If that is what came across, then I guess that is for the viewer to decide. I was put in a position early on to make decisions and carry out the decisions that we made as a tribe. Specifically, I am talking about when I had to go talk to Richard [Hatch]. I hated the fact that I had to do that. People will always have their opinions, and if their opinions are that I am arrogant or cocky, then so be it. I'm fine. But I'm certainly not going to sit here and say that I'm a victim of editing because that excuse gets used way too often.
TVGO: Would you ever play another Survivor edition?
Donaldson: I would play the game again with new players. Playing like we did this time, it is not a game. It is all about deceit based on selfish desires. And everyone knows each other. I knew I didn't like Shii Ann and Jerri before I ever even started the game. So I wouldn't go back, because there is no way that they would ever cast a game with all new players, except for Colby!
TVGO: Any more acting gigs coming up?
Donaldson: Just the Schick campaign, and hopefully, I'll renew that. But that's it for me. I don't want to inundate the TV screen with my ugly mug on all these commercials.
