Survivor: Game Changers – Andrea Boehlke interview: Alliances, Cirie, and more

Andrea Boehlke is the sort of player on Survivor that, at a certain part of the game, you have to worry about. She’s consistently strong in challenges, she fights hard strategically, and she’s well-liked by many people. All of this probably amounts to why the mid-jury phase of the game seems to be perpetually the part of the season that does her in.

Ultimately, this time around Andrea seemed to be done in mostly by an increased focus on her over time as a target; in the first part of last night’s episode some other players in the game decided that it would better to cast her out of the game than either Sarah or Brad Culpepper. This exit interview today includes a discussion of Andrea as a threat, to go along with some of her individual moves made throughout the season.

CarterMatt – This is your third time doing this, and I wonder what this experience is like for you of going through this experience now. Are you able to watch the show and look back at it without thinking too much about what you could have done differently?

Andrea Boehlke – I’m able to completely separate it. Even while the season was airing, I didn’t really get too invested. We filmed this a year ago, so I’m pretty much over it (laughs).

I’m really happy that this is how I handle it, since otherwise I think I’d drive myself completely crazy obsessing over what I could have done. I do think I have more separation than some players do.

In looking both at Caramoan and also your exit last night, both times you seemed to get over the shock of being voted out pretty quick and were even smiling. What makes you able to compartmentalize the game so easily?

I was super-bummed [this time]. I am smiling when I was voting out because I think it was just the shock element. In the moment I reacted like that, but this time I was very disappointed and it turned into this big disappointment with myself. I got a little bitter, which was a little unusual for me.

It was weird — this game was really hard on me, emotionally and physically. I didn’t handle it as well as I did in Caramoan, and I think it was because this time around it was an all-or-nothing situation. I failed, so it hit me harder than it did [in the past].

Was there a part of this that was due to expectation, with this being your third time and knowing that you’ve got this capacity to do really well? I mean, you did still do very well making it to the top eight.

Yeah, but it is the third time, so you better deliver! I’m very hard on myself, so not making it to the finals was really frustrating. Then again, I’m able to look at things and realize that in the grand scheme of life it really doesn’t matter.

How confident going into that Tribal Council that Brad was going to be leaving the game?

I was more nervous about the vote-off before when Sierra went. I thought it would have been a good move for them, because Sierra was desperate, to vote me out and keep Sierra instead. This vote-out, I felt that it made the most sense for everyone to take out Brad. I didn’t know that Sarah wanted to work with the guys, and I didn’t know this time that Sarah and Cirie were as close as they were. There were a lot of things that were going on that I was not aware of.

You started speaking last night about the need to get out Sarah. When was her name first starting to float around in your head as a threat?

After Sarah gave Sierra the weird look, Aubry and I started talking and discovering some things that weren’t lining up with Sarah’s stories. We kind of both felt a little nervous about Sarah, so we were throwing those ideas around. It wasn’t a fully thought-out plan at that point, and we thought that we could trust Cirie with talking about it. Clearly, Cirie had other plans here.

I feel like there’s two different sides of Cirie — there’s Cirie the Survivor legend, who you know is a huge threat, and then there’s Cirie the person who seems so infectious and great to be around. When you’re around her, does that push how good of a player she is into the background?

Yeah. She’s a blast. She’s so fun, she’s so giggly. I would always tickle her. I loved her, and when you really get along with someone, you don’t want to vote them out.

Would you say that she was one of the closest allies that she’s had in your three times playing the game?

She’s up there, because we worked together for much of the game. Cirie and Ozzy were my tightest allies on this season. I actually thought Sarah and I were really good, but that did not end up being the case. I think Cirie and Aubry were my closest allies ultimately.

Who did you want to go the furthest in the game with?

I ended up working closely with Aubry, and I felt like it was better to go to the final three with someone like her as opposed to Cirie and Sarah. I don’t know if I could’ve beaten Aubry, I really don’t know. But, that seemed like a better situation. I was okay with an Aubry final three with someone like Michaela or Tai. Or, the best situation would’ve been Tai and Michaela.

The reason why I wasn’t seeing Brad or Troyzan in the end was that I couldn’t see a path were that would happen. Brad and Troyzan were so tight, and Brad was on a mission to get me out. He saw me as a challenge threat, and he was going at me [for that]. I couldn’t see Brad and I playing together. That’s why I was open to a few different situations — because Aubry and I were so close, I was okay with a scenario [with her at the end].

I’m not sure what the narrative was out there, but was there the same sense about Aubry that there is for us watching at home? Anyone who gets closer to her just ends up getting voted out.

Oh, we would talk about how she was always on the wrong side of the numbers. She would align with someone, and then someone would get voted out. It kept happening. I didn’t think it was going to happen to me (laughs), but I was next on the list.

Was there any repairing the relationship that you had with Zeke? Was there anything you could have done, or that he could have done to reassure you?

I don’t know. Once Zeke came at me right after the merge, I think our relationship was doomed. I was pretty set on getting him out when the next opportunity presented itself.

How many different idols and advantages did you think were in play while out there?

I’m not a fan of idols. I have a really bad track record with idols (laughs). This season, I stepped over the legacy advantage and I missed the idol Troyzan found right in front of me. Idols were not my friend this season.

I figured that someone had one; I thought it may have been Tai, but I wasn’t sure. My mother came out, and she said jokingly ‘we should go look for the idol.’ I said ‘mom, I don’t think there’s idols in this game’ (laughs). I was SO over idols. There were so many!

In looking at this whole season, were you able to actually sit back and enjoy being a part of this? Or, was this something you appreciated more after the fact?

The way that I’ve been describing it is that I did not have fun, but I’m glad I did it. Looking back, I appreciate it and I met a lot of great friends. While I was playing I did not have a great time this season. I had a lot more fun my first and second season. This season was a lot darker. After Zeke came after me I was a basket case — I had a lot of meltdowns that never made air, which I’m very thankful for.

I’m so happy for the experience, but Survivor is really tough. I think a lot of people would say the same thing, that this season was hard on them.

With that, what are the prospects for a fourth time? Is that something you would consider?

I’m not thinking about it right now. I would never close the door because I don’t know what I’ll be doing in a few years. Right now, I’m good. I’m going to chill. It’s always an option, but it would depend on where I was at that time of my life.

Further Survivor coverage

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