‘Survivor: Worlds Apart’ exclusive: Kelly Remington on alliance with Mike, idols, early gameplan
Going into the merge on “Survivor: Worlds Apart,” it was pretty easy to assume that Kelly Remington was going to be safe. She was not a dominant physical player, and she did not seem to be irritating anyone around camp. She was a potential social threat, but not the biggest one in the entire game.
So why did the No Collar alliance choose to target her, and ultimately send her packing after Jenn played her immunity idol? This is one of many questions we got an answer to when we talked to the state trooper in a one-on-one interview. She passed along some valuable information about the origins of her bond with Mike, whether or not anyone on her tribe knew that he threw the challenge, and much more.
CarterMatt – We didn’t always get to see a lot of you out in the game, so I have a ton of questions as a result. Let’s start with this: Did anyone out there know of your job?
Kelly Remington – No. Nobody knew I was a State Trooper.
Was there ever a moment you were worried about keeping it a secret, or thought about telling someone in the game?
I wasn’t going to tell anyone. Nobody questioned it, nobody talked about it, so they definitely didn’t know.
Was a whole lot of that coming based off of being in a post-Tony world?
Exactly. When I went out there, Tony was the last person to win [that had aired at the time], and he was a police officer. [There could have been a feeling of] ‘cops can’t be trusted’ or ‘cops are sleazy.’ I didn’t want them to know as to how I was going to play the game. Sarah and Tony did a great job of playing the game in season 28, so I was just trying to do what they did [with a twist].
I feel like one of the reasons we didn’t see a lot of you was that there were so many crazy things happening at your camp. Those first few days on Blue Collar, what was the vibe like for you while Dan was trying to be this huge character and Rodney was mouthing off?
It was perfect! I couldn’t have asked to be put on a better tribe, because there were strong personalities and that keeps the target off my back. I’m out there to win a million dollars. I’m not out there [for any other reason]. So while it was [fun] to watch people go at each other and explode, my feeling was sitting there thinking ‘what am I doing on this tribe, I don’t belong here,’ but it worked out perfect. I could just sit back and watch these guys fight. I was like ‘yeah, this is great. I’m not going home anytime in the near future because these guys don’t like each other.’
A few weeks in we started to see that you were really close with Mike, but when did that start?
The relationship with Mike and I started on day 2. It was just him and I going down by the water by ourselves, and we were just trying to talk game, because a lot of people were afraid to talk strategy right off the bad. I went up there and said ‘you and I are together from here on out. We’re going to have each other’s back, and we’re not going to let anyone know how tight we are, because in this game when you’re two people strong, they’re going to try and eliminate one of us.’
We knew from day 2, and I felt like I knew I could trust him.
So who was the hardest person to deal with out there: Dan, or Rodney?
They’re both strong personalities. Rodney’s from Boston and he’s used to doing things his way, but I think it was probably Dan. Rodney there were times I would laugh at some of his things. He would make you laugh, and he would make you think ‘did he just say that,’ while Dan would just do silly things trying to get people’s attention.
So the tribe swap happens, and one thing that you did very well was managing to get right into the group when you could have easily been the target. How did you do that?
I started lying to them right off the get-go, saying how dysfunctional the Blue Collars were, how excited I was to be off the Blue Collar tribe, to finally get away from them. I was trying to make them feel like no matter what, I’m with [them]. After the merge, ‘I want to be with them … I want to be a White Collar, be a No Collar. I want to be whatever your want.’ I wanted them to think ‘we got Kelly,’ while deep down I was kind of like ‘I can’t believe I am stuck on this tribe, I can’t wait until I am back on Blue Collar.’
It seemed to work out pretty well, but I’ll ask this. Had Mike not thrown the challenge, who do you think would’ve been voted out. Was it Shirin?
It was Shirin who we were going to vote, but I think in the back of their head I could have been on the chopping block, too. They didn’t want to go to the merge Blue Collar strong. It could’ve very well have been me going home had he not thrown that challenge. It saved me because I think that they would’ve got me next, because Shirin wasn’t really a threat. She’s a little out there and wackadoo at times, but I think I would’ve been the last one to go.
When you and Mike were in that challenge and he was talking to you, were you worried that someone else could hear?
I thought that for a second. He was trying to whisper and I was trying to listen, and I thought for a second ‘oh my gosh, they are going to hear him saying that.’ But the other contestants were so far back, back further than it looks. They couldn’t actually hear us. They were cheering ‘come on Kelly’ and Mike was just whispering to me. There was a slim chance they could hear but I wasn’t too worried at that point.
When the merge happened and you went back to the Blue Collar beach, was there a big search from you for the immunity idol?
I was not looking for the idol, I didn’t think about it. I didn’t want to be that one person out there looking for it. I had looked for it back [in the earlier days], and we were thinking that maybe idols weren’t in the game. We thought maybe this was the first season without an idol, since nobody had found it and nobody was saying anything. We just stopped looking.
Was there any talk among you guys of maybe splitting the vote, or was it more of an issue of not trusting Will and knowing where he or Tyler or Carolyn were going to vote that it wasn’t worth it?
We were discussing splitting them at first. It made sense, but we didn’t know if Will was with him, so we just wanted to test his integrity by saying ‘we’ll all vote for Jenn, and tell Will to vote for Hali and see if he is with us.’ It didn’t even dawn on us about an idol being played. It made sense to split them, but we thought we had the numbers.
And even if they did have an idol, why come after me? I’m not a threat, I’m not a powerhouse, I’m not winning in these challenges, I kind of get along with everyone. I wasn’t even thinking about it at first, and I didn’t know until it happened.
Do you think that they thought someone else had the idol and they voted for you instead?
No, I think the situation was just personal with them. I was on their tribe, I was with them, I told them I was going to stick with them, and when we merged we really didn’t talk. Unfortunately I didn’t take the time to talk with them, say ‘let’s talk’ or ‘let’s go for a swim.’ Instead I was just like ‘it’s good to be back with my Blue Collars.’ I didn’t give them the time of day which was a terrible decision on my part.
In general terms, what do you think you took away most from this experience?
It was the best thing ever. It was the most amazing experience I could ever ask for. I’m a huge ‘Survivor’ fan, and just the people and the support from family, friends, and co-workers, that whole camaraderie brought us all together and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have no regrets whatsoever.
—
If you want to get some other “Survivor” news, including a review for tonight’s episode and much more, head over to the link here. Also, sign up to get some further TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)