‘Survivor: Cagayan’ interview: J’Tia Taylor on idol search, Spencer, and strategy

There is little question that J’Tia Taylor was a big presence on the first few weeks of “Survivor: Cagayan,” and was at times certainly controversial. This was a woman who managed to dump out the rice and struggle in challenges, and still find a way to last past two trips to Tribal Council. While it’s pretty easy to criticize some aspects of her game, we’ll at least give her credit for that.

What we’ll also say is that J’Tia was pretty pleasant in our chat this afternoon, giving us a little more information on everything from what happened to the immunity idol after Garrett left the game to what she would have tried to do had she stuck around past a tribal swap (which we know for sure is coming next week).

CarterMatt – How has the past day or so for you been? Is it hard watching yourself be voted out on TV?

J’Tia Taylor – It was easy compared to a couple of weeks ago. This was a piece of cake.

Let’s start by talking about Tasha. Was she as close to you as it was made to look on TV, and did you have fear going into Tribal?

No, I didn’t have fear going into Tribal. I felt like they were going to keep me, and as Tribal went on, and as the discussion was directed towards winning challenges, they started thinking about [that]. I tried to make the case that they needed somebody loyal because the tribe shakeup was coming up.

This is something that I’ve been trying to think about since last night, but do you think it’s possible that [Tasha and Kass] felt like Spencer was a big target that they felt could be voted out before them later in the game?

I don’t know; you’d have to ask them.

Obviously we saw what happened with the challenges and the rice, but you still found a way to stay in the game longer than David or Garrett. Was there anything in particular that you did?

Well when David got voted out, the one thing that I did do was that I put together the four-person alliance, and made sure that we had David on one side and Garrett on the other side because I knew they were at odds. Once we were in the alliance and we lost … Garrett made sure that it was David. That was a no-brainer; David never saw that coming. He didn’t think that we needed alliances, and that everybody was going to vote me off. That was a miscalculation on his part.

When it comes to the Garrett vote, I think it was a strategic move on Kass’ part to go from being three with the boys to being one or two with Tasha. She could easily hopscotch me. So I think it was a strategic move. I made the argument that he clearly has the idol, because he had no reason for being in his underwear and wet when we got to camp and he couldn’t answer any of our questions. Also, I watched him like a hawk when he got ready, and I made sure that he didn’t have the idol [on him]. I went through all of his stuff and made sure he didn’t have it.

Since you bring up the idol, what happened with it on the Brains camp? Was there any effort to go and look for it?

I searched for it. I didn’t know what was up for it. Nobody else found it, but I searched for it. I really needed it, so it was always on my mind.

I want to get your take on Spencer, since he was a pretty interesting guy to watch. Before the season we watched his videos, and he came across as really full of himself. But in watching the show, we haven’t gotten that same read on him and he seems a good bit more humble.

Oh I think he got humbled when Garrett got voted out. He really had to regroup and rethink. I think all the boys underestimated the women; I think they really did. That is why David and Garrett got voted out. Spencer didn’t do that. He saw the writing on the wall, and he really adjusted.

Also when I saw Spencer’s [pre-game video later] I was like ‘he wasn’t that jerk. He was practically a deaf-mute out on Luzon.’ He was good at controlling himself, because he certainly didn’t come across as a jerk.

So one last thing here: What would’ve been your strategy had you lasted on the show and made it to the tribal swap?

Honestly, I believe in girl power. [It depends] if Kass and Tasha and I were on different tribes or not. If we were on the same tribe I would’ve tried to stick with them and get into a major alliance. That’s always what I think about; get the numbers, and try to get people on your side. I’m not against flirting, or looking up at somebody like a big sister. I would’ve done the best that I could’ve done, and then tried to roll from there. You can have the best gameplan, but you really have to play the people in ‘Survivor.’