‘Survivor: Blood vs. Water’ interview: Tyson Apostol on winning, his injury, and his alliance
Tyson Apostol didn’t just play a good game on “Survivor: Blood vs. Water“; he played one of the best games int he history of the show. While he tried to lay low somewhat prior to the merge, he then went on to find immunity idols, make a number of big moves, and also stay true to his core alliance. In his third time on the show, he had corrected some of his previous mistakes, and also picked up a few tricks from some of his other former cast members.
While Tyson may have been able to withstand quite a bit in his time in the Philippines this season, he was battling something else today in sickness. However, he was still enough of a trooper to sit down and chat with us in a conference call today, where he shared a few candid thoughts about this season as a whole.
CarterMatt: So I guess you’re probably feeling really great right now given that you’ve got a million-dollar check.
Tyson Apostol – Well, right now I’m feeling about the same [as I’ve been] since I haven’t been able to cash it yet.
I wanted to start by talking about the drawing rocks dilemma, since it was a big move and probably the time in the game you were most vulnerable. What were you thinking in that move, and was there a part of you thinking that you wanted to stick with Gervase and Monica since you knew that you could beat them?
Well, part of it was that I knew that they wouldn’t take me to the end. If I had gotten rid of Monica, then I would have had to play the idol, and if I didn’t win the next challenge, I would’ve been voted out. I hadn’t been winning challenges, and I felt like that was the best move for me to keep both Monica and Gervase there. The odds were 33% of me going home; the odds were in favor, and I still had Redemption Island to fall back on. That’s what it came down to when it came to keeping Gervase and Monica; I felt like I had a better shot against them, and I felt like they would also take me.
Was there a part of your game this season where you felt underestimated early on as a strategic player? What I mean by that is that you hadn’t played with many of these people before (even if he was on a past season with Rupert), and the edit of the show in the past has shown you doing a lot of funny or snarky stuff.
I think they were still trying to get rid of me early on. I think people have seen enough of the show to know that I am capable of winning a ton of challenges, and nobody wants to hear Tyson Apostol talk negatively about them, and they’re worried about that as well. And so, going in, people don’t understand that I don’t have a hard time winning people over. I think people were shocked how personable I was in real life. Day one, I think everyone wanted me gone. Day two, I had half of the people on my side. Day three, I had everyone there.
I don’t think I was really underestimated. I think the right combination came together and I stayed focused and was personable with everyone.
Finally, I wanted to at least ask about the injury. How much did it impact your game? Obviously, it was okay enough for you to win the final two immunity challenges.
By that point it was doing okay. I think it really slowed me down for two or three weeks, so maybe Day 7 until Day 30-ish it was still a bit sore. After that, I had full motion in it; I didn’t have full strength, but I didn’t necessarily need that strength for the last couple of challenges.
It kind of made me focus a little bit on my social game, because sometimes I tend to focus too much on the physical game, like if I’m winning challenges I tend to disregard the social aspect of it. I always said the easiest way to win the game would be to win all of the challenges on the way to the final tribal council.
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Photo: CBS