‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’ interview: Reynold Toepfer, Andrew Boehlke

Thanks in part to the madness associated with the “Big Brother Canada” finale the past few days, we are a little bit late in getting this “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites” interview online. So while this one may have taken a bit of waiting for, both Andrea Boehlke and Reynold Toepfer had plenty of interesting things to say about their experiences on the show, whether it be strategy, challenge dominance, and whether or not we could see another turnaround where a fan one season becomes a favorite in another.

From an entertainment standpoint, both were big losses to the show, but at the same time it is always nice to see a blindside in the case of the latter. The fact that she still had a hidden immunity idol was icing on the “Survivor” cake.

Cartermatt.com – Reynold, let’s start with you. The first thing I want to know is simple: why were you so great at all of the random carnival games sort of challenges? Did you grow up in the circus or something?

Reynold Toepfer – Well I’ve never even been to a carnival, but I grew up playing baseball and football and things like that. I just got in the zone, I guess. I don’t know.

So was there ever a time in which you considered cooling it off a little bit? It seemed like the main reason you went before Eddie was because you seemed like so much more of a threat than him.

That’s definitely the reason I went home before him, but then again my philosophy was to play hard and to play your strengths. I’m not the type of personality that can pull an Erik and fly under the radar and do nothing. So I went into every challenge thinking that I’m going to play my hardest, because I feel like the second you try to not play hard in a challenge, like Phillip in not doing a challenge, it can really come back to bite you in the butt. I would never be able to forgive myself.

You mentioned Erik, so is there a chance you could ever go from being a fan to a favorite someday on the show?

Well I hope the viewers consider me one of their favorites. ‘Survivor’ one time was an amazing experience and I loved every second of it, but I don’t see myself playing again, no.

Andrea, do you think that playing too aggressively was your downfall in the game?

Andrea Boehlke – I totally played too hard! I think that after my first season, I felt that I didn’t do any moves and I wanted to! I came in just guns a-blazing, and it was probably a little bit too overboard. People saw me as a threat, and that’s good. I should have just tried to do a little bit of a middle-of-the-road type strategy.

Who do you blame for your exit: Cochran or Brenda? During tribal council Brenda was doing the whole eyebrow [raise] like she was the one responsible.

It was Cochran. I was working with Cochran and Dawn from day 1. Brenda was on the outside of our alliance, but she did sneak right in there. I think weirdly she had something against me. She was whispering my name when Phillip was getting voted out, and I didn’t know what was going on.

But Cochran was the one guy. If he had wanted someone else to go that night, he could have, but he decided it was my time to go.

Was Phillip someone you wanted to go to the end with, and was his elimination really the turning point in your game?

I did want to go to the end with Phillip, but I think he was actually turning on me. He was starting to turn on everyone. Even if he was still in the game, he could have orchestrated a blindside, as well. It changed the game a lot, because he was in my final 3 plans, but he was also nervous about me.

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Are you going to miss either of these two? If you want to go back and read our most-recent “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites” episode review, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: CBS