“Maybe I Should Have Let Coach Lick Me on the Neck” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Tocantins’ Candace by David Bloomberg -- 02/20/2009
Candace didn’t last very long on Survivor: Tocantins. Indeed, she certainly didn’t last as long as she thought she would or should have. What part of the game did she underestimate? Why does she describe her tribe as a cult? What does she really think about Coach? She certainly doesn’t hold back! And the same is true for some revelations about Erinn and Debbie!
When I do these interviews, some of them are more fun than others. Candace was in the group that I love because she had so much to say and could laugh about her experiences while also being totally blunt. Read on and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Candace, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline!
Candace: Thank you for having me.
RNO: Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?
Candace: (Laughs) My strategy obviously wasn’t the best of strategies. It was to work hard at challenges and at camp, which I did. I know I was hands down the strongest woman on my tribe. Actually I was stronger than Coach. I was one of the strongest on the tribe. I worked hard and did the cooking and collected firewood and anything that needed to be done. Actions speak louder than words, and I have a great work ethic. I was sure they’d appreciate that. So much for that.
I forgot about the whole manipulative/whispering/sneaking around/making up stuff. I needed to incorporate that and maybe I’d have still been there. Or maybe I should have let Coach lick me on the neck and then I could have filled a harassment suit. Maybe I should have let Coach feel my butt and have sex with him. Then I bet I’d still be around. (Laughing.)
RNO: You heard he’s been fired from his job as a coach?
Candace: I’m not allowed to comment on that. I can only comment on what I experienced. And from what I experienced, he is a bona fide pervert! I would not have him coaching my son or daughter in anything, especially anything that includes physical contact. He’s a real douche.
RNO: From what we saw and what you just talked about, you seemed to presume that because you were a strong woman and Sierra wasn’t, the tribe would vote based on that. Is that correct?
Candace: Yeah, I thought he tribe would respect my strength and work ethic around the camp and I took their word for it (laughing).
RNO: Did you have any idea you were being targeted?
Candace: No. It’s easy for America to look at it and say it should have been obvious, but you have to remember we had very little food and 120-degree weather. I was more concerned about expending physical energy to make sure the tribe was okay. I worked to the last minute – I was cooking beans right before we went to Tribal Council. I didn’t put the mental energy into thinking about whether they were going to vote me out because I was told it was going to be Sierra.
But the reality is I wanted it to be Debbie. I feel my tribe wasn’t focused. My tribe had so many ulterior motives going on that we were not a unified team. We had a few followers who went along with whatever so they could stay and then a few super-manipulative @$$#oles on my tribe. I’m not good with that.
I honestly felt Debbie was the weakest. I was like, seriously, let’s keep Sierra and dump Debbie. Everybody looked at me like I was the spawn of Satan because (in a sing-songy voice), “Debbie’s so nice.” Anyone who talks this much and tries this hard cannot be real. You see her at Tribal Council saying, “I know these people. I trust these people.” Wake up! It’s been six days! Are your relationships that superficial?! She was so scatterbrained – she wouldn’t have been able to run from one end to the other in that basketball challenge. She’s so discombobulated, I don’t trust her in a mental challenge. She was all over the place.
RNO: You mentioned some “super-manipulative” players. Who were they?
Candace: Coach is at the top of the list. He’s so intimidated by me – he’s a misogynist, he’s delusional. And he’s weak physically. I’m honestly stronger than him. I don’t know what’s up with him if he had a spinal injury before coming on the show or he has early bone determination, but I can bench press more than him. In the first challenge, I picked up two boards and ran across the hills with them; he could barely pick up a board.
Erinn – Wow! She’s conniving. It’s very obvious – you meet her and you just know she’s conniving. She was so happy she was on TV she told me she wanted to go into entertainment after this. I should have been paying attention to her but I didn’t want to.
Debbie is super conniving. Miss kumbaya, “Candace is trash-talking you.” Good strategy, kissing coach’s butt. That went over well. I don’t know how your husband felt about it.
I could say Sierra is conniving but that would give her too much credit mentally. I don’t think she has the capacity. I would like to know why she called me a snake in the grass when she voted me out. I told you I wanted you to stay and you talked about voting me out. Who is the snake in the grass?
RNO: Why did you bring up Coach as a target and then decide not to follow through with it?
Candace: Because I thought people on my tribe were so brainwashed by him. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I was like, “Is he really having this effect on you?” I was the only one being protected by the evil rays. I could take him down with one arm. It was like a cult, like the whole “I’m your coach” thing – it worked with everybody! But with some people, it was horrifying.
Debbie running around, “Hi, Coach.” What do you need me to do, Coach?” “Want me to wash your boxers, Coach?” This is sick! I knew there was no chance for me to get that douche out of there early on. You people are bananas! I don’t know what I could have done to get rid of him. I should have challenged him to a duel (laughing). I would still like to do that.
RNO: Maybe you can do it at the finale.
Candace: I think we should wrestle, WWE style – I guarantee I will take him down. I have bigger balls than him.
RNO: You mentioned Erinn a couple minutes ago, and we saw you talking mostly to her. Who else did you talk to in your attempt to make it through Tribal Council?
Candace: I asked Jerry to his face, he said Sierra. I asked Tyson to his face. Sierra. And of course Coach lied to my face.
RNO: Were you surprised at the time that even Erinn voted against you?
Candace: There’s a lot you didn’t see in this episode, but Erinn is highly insecure and was very intimidated by me from the very beginning. Like she couldn’t believe I looked [so good] without makeup. She was like fascinated with me. It was to the point of being slightly stalkerish. I knew there was no way she would want me to stay around and I completely understand.
RNO: Now that you’ve seen discussions of why you were voted out, what do you think of the reasons the others had for voting you out?
Candace: It was coach who wanted me out of there the most. Erinn and Debbie were scared of me. Sierra just wanted to save her butt. The three guys were followers.
Coach was leading the group to get me kicked out because he was very intimidated by me. He saw that his whole manipulating tactics didn’t affect me. I saw right through him – I saw the crap and I was honest about it. He was weak – he really made no contribution to the tribe except to talk a lot. You need people to actually work. He couldn’t stand me.
There were times when he would order Jerry to chop wood and I would say, “Coach, how about you chop some wood?” He looked like he wanted to cut my head off with a machete. Debbie and Sierra wanted to save Sierra and it just trickled down from there. Erinn wanted to get rid of me ‘cus I’m hot. I think Tyson and Jerry were two of the people who were like, “She should not be leaving,” but they didn’t stand up for me, they just went along with whatever.
RNO: Before the show, you said you knew you would have to bite your tongue. Do you think you needed to do that even more than you did?
Candace: Of course I needed to bite my tongue more! But there are two things – I have a hard enough time biting my tongue in daily life and then put me in 120-degree weather and no food and put me with nauseating people. I should have bit my tongue a little more, but that’s who I am – I’m an honest person, an upfront person. When I see somebody taking advantage of a situation, I say something. That’s Candace. I’m proud of who I am. Did it cost me a million dollars? Yeah, but I’m still here and I love who I am. I won’t look back on any decision I made and say I compromised who I am. I didn’t.
RNO: What was the most eye-opening thing you saw on TV that you didn’t know about while you were there?
Candace: Probably Debbie running to go tell me on me like one of her little fifth graders at her school. I was like, wow, is that how the campaign started? Good to know. Wow. That was the most eye-opening thing. “I like to stay away from negativity,” that’s why I run and tell on people. She talked so much crap about Erinn.
RNO: Unfortunately, it looks like we’re out of time. Do you have anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?
Candace: I loved it! I would do it again. It was a great experience for me. I grew as a person. I definitely appreciated it. And I’m the bomb! I mean, I am. I didn’t deserve to be voted off.
RNO: Thanks again, Candace!
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Tocantins articles here on
David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at
RNO@pobox.com.
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