Survivor: Ghost Island interview: Michael Yerger talks elimination episode, immunity idols, more

Michael Yerger had himself a heck of a run on Survivor: Ghost Island. He very rarely had the numbers on his side, but even with that he managed to last a good while on the strength of immunity idols, strategic moves, and strong social bonds. To think that even without that — and with him being an enormous target — he was able to create enough paranoia to almost save himself on this past episode Wednesday night. Unfortunately, not having an idol in his pocket this time around ended up being his undoing, as was being separated on a small tribe with Wendell, Domenick, and Kellyn for the vote.

Below, Michael spoke to us about the circumstances leading up to the vote, including whether or not he felt he had a legitimate chance at staying, and his topsy-turvy ride all season.

CarterMatt – I’ll best honest — if I were you, I would’ve been greatly tempted the moment after the votes were read to just turn around and say ‘I was actually 18 the whole time!’. Did that ever cross your mind?

Michael – It did, but at the same time I didn’t want it to be like ‘ha, this is me, that is what I did.’ I just wanted it to be the exit that it was. I was very pleased. I thought it was a good exit and I was honored to have people giving me hugs on the way out.

Of course, I would love to have a little bit of a bigger reveal about the age thing just because it was hard to add five years to my life and talk about community college that I never went to, and a first job that I never had.

I’m always really curious anytime someone comes out there with a lie of that magnitude. How much did you have to prepare that before going out on the beach?

I definitely had to practice it a little bit. I had to get my dates right — when I graduated high school, when I was born, and this and that. I had to keep that all in check while being sleep-deprived and hungry. It was relatively simple; it wasn’t a huge thing in that once I had it down it was easier, but even in that Tribal I had to make sure I said thirteen years rather than eight. I had to keep little things in my head at all times so I didn’t blow it.

Going into Tribal Council, what did you think were your chances that this plan with the ‘immunity idol,’ that you didn’t have, would work out?

I didn’t really have a lot of faith in the idol thing — I knew there was definitely some suspicion there. I think that Kellyn bought it, but I don’t think she fully believed it. It was enough to shake things up a little. I was just hoping that with the mystery of an idol as well as the need to get out a power player, I thought that my agreement with Laurel and Kellyn was going to be enough to get some votes on Wendell. Clearly it wasn’t, but I went into Tribal somewhat confident and I was hoping that of course I could pull out another Tribal.

I think the idea of fake idols this season is so interesting. I was thinking last night that you could have made one, but then there’s that whole twist this season where they have to look like a famous object from the past and I wasn’t sure you would have the materials for that. Were these sort of thoughts on your mind?

Oh my god, of course. It’s funny that you mention that because Wendell made a fake idol that didn’t make the show. He had received a note from Dom from Naviti Beach which he paired with an idol that he made. It was an immaculate fake idol — he’s so good with his hands. He’s a furniture dude! He made a skull and crossbones with beads and a leather strap and it was incredible. He planted it on Yanuya Beach with that note from Naviti. We all knew that Yanuya was green-colored and Naviti was purple, so once I was able to get some information from Jenna I was able to tell that it wasn’t a real idol. She didn’t know what season it was from but when I saw it, I realized that it wasn’t from any other season so it had to be fake. That was something that only me or Dom would know, having found idols already and knowing the theme of the season.

That was something that was really interesting, and the day that I was running around scrambling, the same day that I had to play my effing stick idol, I was running around telling people ‘this Wendell dude is crafty. He made a fake idol, he planted it, he fooled Laurel and Jenna when they found it.’ I was the one who knew the background of the idols this season so I had to tell Jenna that the idol was fake and it wasn’t real. I caught on to Wendell’s whole plan. It showed how crafty he was! It’s just hard to explain that to people without them knowing that it’s the truth. It made me look a little bit crazy but I’m preaching, saying ‘listen, this is what’s happening! We need to do something about it.’

In thinking about your game overall this season it reminds me of Spencer from Cagayan in that no matter what you did, things really didn’t go your way. How much do you attribute your demise to bad luck, or are there specific moves along the way you wish you had changed?

I’m totally humble enough to know the mistakes that I made. There are so many things that I could’ve done differently to find better success in the game. I could’ve done things better in immunity challenges and that was a part of the problem — I just kept losing. There are so many things that I could’ve, would’ve, should’ve done differently. I can’t control the swaps and I can’t control being in the minority, but what was in my hands was the physical aspect. That is what it boils down to for me. If I had done a better job in the physical challenges and strategized better, of course we could’ve had a different outcome in the [immunity challenges early on], where I wouldn’t have gone to Tribal and I would’ve never been down in the numbers.

That’s what it comes down to for me, but really the combination of bad luck and not winning challenges makes it really hard to ever put yourself in a power position and get some traction.

Save for a Malolo majority, was there any other combination of players in which you would have stuck around?

Oh yea. 100%. I think if I was not with Dom, Wendell, or Kellyn, I would’ve had something — even with Kellyn, if I had the right mix of players. The main two who wanted me out were Dom and Wendell, because they know that they’ve got their thumbs on a lot of people in this game. I was not one of those people. I was not willing to work with them and I had cast my vote for Wendell multiple times. We know that Kellyn did, too — she said it verbatim on the episode before (laughs). Those were really my three biggest [obstacles]. I think if I was with Donathan, Jenna, or Laurel, they would have worked with me to get out someone like Angela or Chelsea, someone who would be a coattail-rider at the end.

There were so many pitches I could have made if I was with someone other than Dom and Wendell. I’m confident in my ability to create a sense of security for those people to want to keep me around. They would be getting rid of people who would be a threat to them down the line, but I’m going to be a threat tomorrow. That’s not going to change.

What move this season were you the most proud of? You must’ve had a killer social game, because I remember thinking last week with the Des vote that you were the obvious person to get rid of. You were such a threat!

I tried to be really humble and malleable because nothing really went my way. I never really had the luxury of making decisions to choose my own fate. Everything was kind of decided for me. I just had to go with it. It’s a huge skill you need to have in Survivor, to go with the flow and follow the course of the game. It was hard for me, but that’s how the cookie crumbles.

Was there one part of being out there that totally surprised you?

I don’t know. I feel like it’s just because I watched the show for so long that I really had so many things I had expected and tried to prepare myself for. That way, when it happened I would just be mentally there. I think the biggest surprise for me was that it was exactly what I thought it would be. Going into it I didn’t know what it was going to be, but to find out that that it’s authentic, real, and what I prepared myself for and always loved the game to be, that was the biggest surprise.

If you come back, what would you do differently?

Obviously playing a second time, people have seen your strategy, they’ve seen who you are on the show. If I play again there’s no age lie. People know who I am and hopefully, people will see that I was loyal to my alliances. I had to turn on a couple of people and that’s just how the game goes, but I fought for my alliance and I wasn’t selfish with my idols. I really gave it everything that I got. I would play the same strategy, but I would just have to defend some things and work closely with people and show them loyalty. Really try to put myself in that position that could get me to the end.

Related – Be sure to check out highlights from this week’s new episode

Want to get some other news related to Survivor?

Then be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook right now. It’s a great way to stay up to date with all of our Survivor scoop and interviews. (Photo: CBS.)