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Randy Bailey

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marigold:
An interview with Randy:

Survivor Exit Interview: Randy Bailey On False Idols and Fake Sugar

Last time on Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden one of the most unusual Tribal Councils ever was conducted when Bob gave Randy the false Idol he had crafted from beads, resin and string - and Randy played it for Immunity.

The shot of Jeff Probst tossing it into the fire will go down in the history of Survivor not only for the drama, but for the rare practical joke at such a solemn and contentious occasion.

On the losing end of the gag was Randy Bailey, a videographer from Missouri who played the game like a pro and who never pulled a punch. What you see is what you get with Randy, and he proved the point when I caught up with him on the phone the day after at the CBS offices in New York.

Hi Randy, I've been worried about talking to you. I'm a little afraid of you.
You should be.

Let me ask you, did you write your own Bio on the CBS Survivor home page?
Actually the CBS Publicist wrote it and I didn't think it was good enough so I completely rewrote it and every word of it is mine. And by the way, every word of it is true. And it's also delivered kind of in a tongue-in-cheek way. But I think you can figure that out.

I think you scored there, showing that you're a many faceted individual, not just the narrow slice we saw on the show.
I agree with that.

For us it was just last night that you got kicked off Survivor but for you it's been awhile. How are you dealing with it?
It's funny, you deal with it the first time as it happens live and you deal with it a second time as you watch it on TV but in a lot of ways, it's more intense the second time. I wasn't surprised by my edit, I knew it was gonna be Crystal and Sugar dog cussing me behind my back, and you know, yeah they delivered.

Yeah, you were definitely feeling the heat early on in the episode and I have to ask you about your strategy of turning up the flame a little higher.
I think I played a pretty good game up until Day 24 when we divided tribes again. I was loose, I floated around at first, found some fun, smart people that I wanted to play the game with and got in a power alliance. There were 10 people left and I'm looking good, I'm writing my speech at the finale. Then the tribe switches up, Marcus is gone and I'm a dead man walking.

And like you said in your Bio, only a twist would knock you out.
I've been watching since Borneo and the first Africa, and my strategy was a sound strategy for the early days of Survivor. It appears with all these twists, the best strategy is to have no strategy.

That's the game. Has being on Survivor helped you in your personal life, with your friends?
I don't have any friends.

How about in your business?
Nooo...

I have to say you don't strike me as a typical videographer.
Actually I do 100% post-production work, I'm not the guy with the camera that shows up at the weddings with a smile and tells the Bride's mom how nice she looks.

I was picturing in my mind what that would be like if Randy showed up at my wedding as my videographer.
They don't let me anywhere near the church.

After watching last night's episode I guess I can understand why. Like I said, you were memorable and I think your edit is one of the best I've seen.
I approve 100% of the edit I got this season, except for last week's edit because they showed me completely as a jerk. They didn't show anything redeeming whatsoever but last night's edit, I loved it. They exposed Sugar for the ruthless, vicious skank that she is.

Yeah, you got into the cookie mess and then something that will probably go down in history is that you fell for the false Idol. Did you know at all that was false before you actually pulled it out?
When I pulled it out I 100% knew it was fake. When I took it to Tribal Council with me I thought it was real. Bob was a friend and an ally, and I couldn't see any possible strategy for him giving me a fake Idol except to make a fool out of me. And if he made it to the Finals and I'm in the Jury, you know, why would he do that? I get to vote who wins.

When Jeff Probst asked if anybody wanted to play the Idol, I looked down and I saw Sugar and Crystal laughing at me. Sugar even fell out of her seat and was rolling around in the dirt, pointing at me and laughing at me, and at that point I was sure it was fake. But I had nothing to lose, so I played it anyway.

I'm not trying to say I knew it was fake, because I thought it was real at first. I only knew it was fake after it was too late. Bob duped me and may he forever rot in hell for it.

As far as his edit is going he looks like a saint, but when he stuck that knife in your back, that was good TV.
I'm glad you liked it.

I mean, from a viewer's standpoint, of course it was delicious, but for you, of course, it was rough.
Actually it wasn't rough, I was with a lot of nice people last night watching it and the fact that they showed Sugar to be so horrible it brought closure to the whole thing.

Like you said, you were playing hard the whole way. You were great at challenges.
I wouldn't say great but I held my own.

I don't mean physically, I mean mentally. You always seemed to be able to pull off some little trick to make things go better for your team. Like the aqua polo that you played.
I don't take a lot of credit there. I was just smart enough and coordinated enough to paddle down in front of the net while Dan and Marcus, the work horses, flipped me the ball.

Yeah. That was good. I admired that. I thought that was real canny and smart. And then when you had that run-in with Matty on the golf course.
I appreciate you seeing what I was trying to do. Watching that last week was just painful and not only Matty not listening to me, but Sugar just yelling "Chill out!" it was awful. I've never been so frustrated in my life.

I'm so competitive at the challenges and in that one, we were looking at a meal. I didn't need a meal, I'd eaten pretty well, but Crystal was borderline about to quit the game. She was crying at every challenge and I wanted to keep the meal away from her. I truly enjoyed watching her cry, and I'd like to point out now that Crystal, after Kenny won immunity, Crystal now holds the all time record for losing challenges in 17 seasons of Survivor. Look it up.

Sounds like you're still doing your homework.
I knew it at the time. Gold Medal my ass.

Well it's not over yet for you. You're coming up on the jury and will be on all the way up until the final, where I can't wait to hear what you have to say. What was your experience like leading up to that?
Bittersweet. I still wanted to be in the game, but the whole thing was great. We pretty much had an open bar policy which was a lot of fun.

Yeah you came across as always ready for tipping them back.
(laughing) Yeah, they gave me that edit. I was watching the first Ponderosa video today and I don't think there was one frame that I didn't have a beer in my hand.

You certainly took advantage of every moment. The speculation today is that those beers lead to the whole cookie incident. Did that have any bearing on it?
What you don't see as a viewer is that altercation was me vs. Sugar and that's it. Nobody else sitting there likes Sugar any more than I do. I left this game with, believe it or not, a bunch of friends. Sugar doesn't have one friend. Ace. She votes him out, calls him Acehole.

Yeah she burns all the bridges, it looks like to me.
I'm glad you saw that. I get the rap as a villain and I'll take that rap. That's what I was cast for and that's who I was. She's gotten the Girl Next Door edit this entire season and it was great to see them change that up a little. And the next week or two I look forward to it even going farther south. She deserves it. I couldn't happen to a nicer bitch.

You had no idea she had the Immunity Idol while you were playing with her?
The reason I really didn't think she had it was because Survivor 101 says if someone might have the Idol, you flush it out. Not only did Fang suspect that she might've had it, but Crystal saw it in her bag like a month ago. They did nothing about it. They let GC quit without even worrying about the Idol.

This season has been some of the worst gameplay I have ever seen. I am forever grateful to have this chance to play Survivor, but my God, couldn't they have put me in another season?

You can always come back as a fan favorite or that kind of thing.
That's not my call to make. I'm gonna be editing wedding videos and if they call me, great. Yeah, I would go back tomorrow if I had the chance, but if they do call and Sugar or Crystal are in the cast, I'm just gonna tell them no. I don't care if they make the prize 10 million.

This is what made your character so memorable. Even on the show there was no bull with you, you came across as real.
I am real and if you look at the game, I know lying is part of the game, but I did not tell one lie, even though I was a villain. The closest thing I said to a lie was when we voted Dan out and I didn't tell him he was going home. I said "Dan, I am voting for Susie, I promise you." And that's what I did. I was deceiving Dan, but I never told one lie.

But you can't make it to the end without telling a lie and if Marcus, Charlie and Corinne would've gone further. I'm not sure I could've done it. Probably not.

Were you consciously trying for that goal?
No, that's just the way I play.

So it wasn't just a strategy.
No.

You have a great chance as a fan favorite because of that so I congratulate you on your turn sir.
8th place doesn't mean crap. I didn't win. But thank you anyway.

Do you have a prediction for the winner, or is there someone you want to win?
Obviously from the way you hear me talk I would love for Corinne to win, but I'd also like for her to get voted out next so she can join me in Ponderosa.

Well thanks for talking with us today and Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Thank you. You too. I enjoyed talking with you.

Link: http://thebiz.fancast.com/2008/11/survivor_exit_interview_randy.html

marigold:
An interview with Randy:

Survivor’s Randy Admits He’s ‘Grumpy & Cantankerous’

As one of Survivor’s grumpiest contenders ever, Randy Bailey, a 49-year-old videographer from Eagle Rock, Minn., was always willing to pick a fight and was never at a loss for words. And after months of reflection on his time on Gabon, his costars and his trick ousting, he hasn’t changed. Randy had some particularly choice things to say about his nemesis Sugar when he spoke with PEOPLE from New York for his official exit interview. – Carrie Bell

Did you go into tribal council believing that was an idol and that your plan would be successful?
Bob was a friend and an ally and the idol was a good facsimile so I thought it was real. I said something on the episode about it looking real enough so I obviously had some doubt. But when Jeff asked for it and I started to pull it out of my pocket, Crystal and Sugar started laughing. Then there was no doubt in my mind that I had been duped. But I had no to play it. Nothing to lose. So the answer is yes I thought it was real going in — and yes I knew it was fake when I played it.


Are you mad at Bob for tricking you or do you understand that it is a game and that he was just trying to buy himself more time?
Bob is basically a good guy but he still doesn’t know what he is doing [in terms of strategy]. What if he makes the finals and I am in the jury as are Charlie and Marcus and we all sat there and watched what he did? How does he expect to get votes? And Sugar, how does she expect to get votes if she makes it to the end by laughing at me? She fell out of her chair when I was playing the idol and pointed at me and everybody was cringing at what she was doing. Jeff Probst included. And Crystal went on that rant that she goes on every week that America hates. What game are these people playing? Don’t they realize the jury has to pick them to win?

For all intents and purposes, your plan was smart and would have worked if Sugar hadn’t found the idol.
I probably would have done that even if I knew there wasn’t an idol out there. I was doing all that stuff before Bob had even gotten back from exile. I knew my days were numbered and I was doing anything I could to shake things up. I thought maybe someone would get I fight; one person defending me and the other not defending me and something could get said that would change the tide. I didn’t quit even though I knew I was on the outs.

You never held back that you didn’t necessarily like this people very much, so did you derive some pleasure from your wicked plan as well.
You sugarcoated it. It wasn’t that I didn’t necessarily like these people all that much. I hated them. Yeah I got some pleasure from it. They didn’t even show my favorite part of what happened on TV. The night before I was gone, I stayed up all night and would wake everybody up every 15 or 20 minutes. It was a blast! I don’t know why they didn’t show that part.

Are you concerned at all by how you were portrayed as the grumpy old man? Is this your real personality?
There’s a part of me that wants to believe that you aren’t as cantankerous as you were portrayed. I am absolutely a lot grumpy and cantankerous. What you saw on TV was real. What you didn’t see was me being human and spending time with Marcus, fishing in the jungle with Marcus and talking about life. The same thing with Charlie and Corrine and even Dan and Matty. You didn’t see a lot of my more human hours out there. A lot of people hated me out there, but there were also a lot of people who liked me out there. A lot of the people booted recently wouldn’t, I don’t think, have anything bad to say about me at all. And look who doesn’t like me — Crystal, Sugar, Susie. I can’t think of a better compliment.

You basically said that being voted out by those bozos was a badge of honor. Can you elaborate on that?
If they didn’t vote me out, then that would mean I fit in. I don’t want to be friends with Crystal and Sugar and Susie. She’s a hairdresser from Iowa. Of course I’m not going to get along with her. If Sugar liked me, I would have to rethink who I am.

This has been a very strange season of Survivor. Most of the strong players are gone and members of the losing-ist team in Survivor history are still around. What’s going on?
It has been a very weird season. From day one when we were picking tribes and Jillian picked Crystal and then Crystal staring down the barrel at Matty and Dan and Marcus, she picked Susie. Explain that to me. And then when we split tribes at 10 they did it again. Even though I got the boot last night, it was my favorite episode because it painted Sugar to be the awful person that she is. She’s been like that since day one but the editors have done a good job of fooling the world, making her look like America’s sweetheart. Nothing is farther from the truth. We had two tribe pick-ums and both times neither tribe picked Sugar. She was dead last and there was a reason for it. Yet she is still there.

What was your first meal after being booted? Was the $180 beer and peanuts and $300 spaghetti you got at auction worth it?
We spent a night at base camp before going to Ponderosa and I had two steaks and a whole bunch of other stuff. Rest assured, I made myself sick. I spent $180 dollars, which is $60 a beer at the auction. That’s some good beer. The night I got booted off they had a shower and food waiting for me, but no beer. They knew my profile, but didn’t even have one beer waiting for me. That was disappointing.

How did you handle the physical aspect of Survivor?
There are lasting effects of playing Survivor. All the weight you lose out there is fat and muscle equally. Then you get home and you’re recovering and all the weight you gain back is fat. It messes with your body a little bit. I need to turn that around or I’m going to have an a– as big as some of the people in Gabon.

Has being on Survivor increased your work bookings? How has returning to real life been?
It has made work difficult. I have been preoccupied. I am talking to Charlie and Corinne and, even though I didn’t play the game with him, Ace every day. We flew back together and I got to know Ace on the planes. And by the way, he did not say that he was famous and he did hit any women. He got arrested last week and I want to tell people, ‘Don’t believe everything you read.’ But I am back in Missouri and I am back to work now doing the same thing at 50 to 70 percent capacity. I don’t know what’s next.

Survivor: All-Stars perhaps?
If they asked me and they put it in my contract that Sugar was not going to be there, I would go tomorrow.

Link: http://tvwatch.people.com/2008/11/24/survivors-randy-admits-hes-grumpy-cantankerous/

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