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Crystal Cox

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georgiapeach:
Heliox at Sucks just posted a nice video interview in 2 parts with Crystal.

I will say she comes across very personably when she isn't starving to death, lol!


Part two:

TARAsia Fan:

--- Quote from: marigold on December 13, 2008, 04:10:03 PM ---An interview with Crystal:

Survivor’s Crystal: Ken ‘Deserves to Win’


--- End quote ---
Ken deserves to win as much as Richard Hatch deserved to have CBS to pay his taxes. Please! Ken deserves a swift kick in the nuts.

marigold:

Survivor: Gabon - You Ask They Tell featuring Crystal

Crystal shares her experience as the latest castoff from Gabon

marigold:
Another interview with Crystal:

Interview with Crystal Cox of “Survivor”

Alas, Crystal Cox was kicked off “Survivor” on Thursday night. I’ve been following the Pine Forest High grad all season and hoped she would make it to Sunday’s finale. Gotta support the local gal, plus she went to my alma mater, UNC. (She now lives in the Triangle, but has many family members still here.)

In any case, I’ll have a story in Sunday’s new Diversions section (shameless plug) about her and her time on the show. But as a preview, and for all you Survivor junkies out there, here is a transcript of our interview. We spoke yesterday. She was in Los Angeles, and it was about 6:30 a.m. She has a pretty good sense of humor. I didn’t get to ask her everything I wanted because of our time constraints, but I think we covered a lot of ground. Enjoy, and watch the finale Sunday night!

I’m sorry to be talking to be you. We hoped you’d make it to Sunday’s finale. So what happened last night? Why did Sugar flip?
From what I saw, Sugar was disappointed in me for the fact that Matty was getting yelled at by me.

Was there something that we didn’t see there? It seemed all of sudden she’s like we have this tight alliance. Then she sees that and changes her mind.
Matty was in the hut talking about how he was so surprised his name showed up. That was a shock to him. When you see your name for the first time, it’s a shock for anybody. He didn’t know how to handle it. I knew Matty was gunning for me from day 9 or 10 when he switched and joined alliances with Ace.

Tell me about the overall experience. I guess you’ve had some perspective on it since you’ve been back.
The experience was amazing. I got to learn a lot about myself and actually see myself in action.
Like I told many people that know me in and out of the game, I am a genuine person. I don’t have to wear it across my chest on a shirt. At home, I’m by far one of the sweetest people they will ever encounter.
I’m honored to have been amongst 18 castaways to experience the whole “Survivor: Gabon.”

What do you think were some of your strengths and weakness in the game?
(Laughs) Definitely my strengths were I was an honest person. Sometimes I could be brash and sassy. But I was honest, and I think the players respected me for that. It wasn’t, we don’t know what Crystal is going to do. We know what she’s going to do and this is what we can expect.
I definitely enjoyed the rewards, seeing the gorillas. I was honored Bob chose me. I got to meet some castaways that I got an experience with that I will never be able to experience with anyone else.

You and Kenny, were you tight from the beginning?
Not really. Kenny, GC and I were an alliance from day one. When things started to shift with GC leaving, we had to start guarding up numbers to protect ourselves in the game. In the end, numbers will help you and the vote to go your way. From the moment that Kenny saved me from Ace throwing me under the bus, that’s when I knew Kenny and I were both in there.

It seemed like you two were the tightest group to go so far since you demolished the “onion alliance.”
Kenny and I, we had our way of…manipulating is such a bad word. But we had a way of convincing people and allowing people to see things for what they were. That’s what helped us make it through the game.

How did you two convince those people? The Ace vote was probably a turning point, right?
With the whole Ace situation, Kenny convinced Sugar. With me protecting Kenny, I had to convince Susie. Marcus was telling her he would take her to final 3. I had to let her know that going to the Final 3 is not guaranteed by anybody. Anything can happen in this game. I had to let her know she wasn’t part of the original Kota. Eventually they would throw her under the bus.
When we got to the merge, Charlie had to go because he was a physical threat. We knew he was going to win challenges. After that, it was just a numbers game.

Now that you’ve seen the show, do you think Kenny was overconfident? He was saying he was the mastermind. You had something to do with it too, so it wasn’t just all him, was it?
I did think Kenny got a little overconfident. When you’re in a situation of power, you start feeling your power and feeling you can control things. He was telling me that stuff too. What he told the cameras, that was nothing. Kenny, with each other, we had a very honest game. He didn’t lie to me. That didn’t come as a shock to me. It’s to be expected, especially when you’re the number 1 strategist in the world to have arrogance about yourself.

Are there any decisions you two regret? Do you regret not writing Matty’s name down?
Definitely. That is by far is my biggest regret in the game. I had to trust my alliance. That part of the game I played with my heart. That was my downfall. I do regret not writing Matty’s name.

That might have saved you last night?
Definitely. I would have had the numbers on my side.

Talk about the physical aspects. You’ve been getting beaten up on the blogs about how you’re an Olympian but haven’t done well with the physical challenges. Now is your chance to defend yourself.
In all reality, those physical challenges were hard as hell. No person in their right mind would think of batting a watermelon. Or running on a log with a pond full of leeches. It was naturally hard. I know that size and strength had nothing to do with it. It was just hard. I’ve conditioned my body for over the last 20 years to run in a straight line. For me to jump through hoops and all this other craziness, I’m not going to say I was going I was out there (foolinging) around. I wasn’t. I was giving 155 percent. The challenges were hard.

It’s not that I’m accusing you of not making an effort. I certainly saw that.
The television made it look so easy. For other competitors, like, it’s Oh, it was no problem for them to run across boards. Little do they do that the boards were like thin as hell and my feet are so big. Everything was just hard out there. The challenges were hard. The only part of that game that was not hard for me was Tribal Council. Tribal council was my chance to be like, “Come on Jeff, come on with the questions. I want to tell you how it is.”

I did look forward to Tribal Council. Because he would ask you these questions, then you’d give it back. Talk about Tribal Council.
Tribal council was group therapy for me. It was our chance to sit there and really vent. We could vent with a neutral person there, which was Jeff, and know that folks aren’t going to conspire about you in the woods and talk about you. This is what it is. I love Tribal.

Kelly called you weak. You and Randy seemed to go at it a lot.
Yeah, I had my moments with many castaways. Like I told them, hey, the game was outwit, outlast, outplay. I outwitted you guys. Let’s just suck it up and be friends.

Have you made amends with any of those people?
I have. I would say 90 percent of the castaways… Hopefully had a chance to look at how the show went. And it wasn’t mean Crystal, but this is how things played out.

How much weight did you lose?
25 pounds

Have you regained any of it?
(laughs as she says yes but won’t say how much)

Anything you were surprised to learn about yourself? Talk about some of the lessons you learned.
What the cameras saw, I would say, that’s Crystal. But you know I was in an extreme situation. No food. No rest. Cold at night. Hot during the day. No water. Dehydration. To top it off, I was stinking. It was a great experience all around. Hopefully I’m honored to do it again.

Do you look at yourself differently now that you’ve had that outside perspective?
I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut and just sit back and analyze things and not be so straightforward.  But now folks don’t know what I’m thinking. I try to be nice about it. Hey, it comes off the way it does.

So what was the hardest part of being out there? I know you were away from your daughter.
Outside of the emotional part being away from family, I would have to say food. When you’re out there, you learn you have a complete passion and obsession for food. That to me was one of the hardest parts. We could curl up and cuddle at night to keep each other warm. Just not having the comfort of food, that was hard. It took me at least 15 days to get adjusted to the starvation.

Let’s talk about the fake idols. Did you believe that was an idol when Bob showed it to you?
At the point, at the time when he did show it to me, I did think it was an idol. Then I was looking at our torches and I’m like, what in the world? Some of the dangling pieces are missing. That’s when I knew it was fake. But Bob is a mastermind, and he did a great job.

He made it out of pieces of the torch?
Yes! And pieces that that came with tree mail. Like when he got mail, it would have jewels and stuff on it. He held onto it.

Now we know. What’s next for you?
Hopefully Hollywood will come calling. (She plugs the phone number where you can vote for her to get $100,000.) Hopefully some doors will open up. If not, then I’ll just have to come out of retirement for track and field.

What do you want to do in Hollywood?
I definitely want to go into acting. If not, then sports commentating. I always wanted to be a news anchor.

Do you think you’ll go back to track or training for the next Olympics?
Definitely not for the next Olympics. In track and field, I’m considered a grandma. I’m 30 years old. Once you hit 30, You’re either in it or you’re out of it. I’ve taken a year and a half off from the sport. I’m ready to go onto bigger and better things and definitely devote time to my family.

Any parting thoughts?
Thank you very much. It’s been an honor. Hopefully I’ve made Fayetteville proud.

Finally, there were some interesting video clips of her on the CBS web site. I found these two particularly revealing. The first is right after she got kicked off and went to Ponderosa, where the eliminated players on the jury hang out (They gave her the silent treatment. Mature, real mature). One is from the day after and includes some tears. See, Crystal is just a big softie.

Link: http://blogs.fayobserver.com/entertainment/2008/12/13/interview-with-crystal-cox-of-survivor/

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