Survivor: Ghost Island interview: Laurel Johnson on tiebreaker vote, final Tribal Council surprise

Laurel Johnson is one of the more interesting case studies with Survivor that sometimes, the game you plan on playing going in is not remotely the same as the one you end up playing. She anticipated going in and being a physical force, but after her Malolo tribe got decimated, she found herself in a spot where she had to use other skills: Strategy, alliances, and just working to survive one more Tribal Council. She made it to the final three thanks to a close bond with Domenick and Wendell and while she didn’t win, she does have the distinction of being the first person to ever break a tie in show history.

In our interview with her, we kick things off with a discussion on that very topic.

CarterMatt – How does it feel to be the first person to ever cast a tiebreaking final Tribal Council vote? Is that cool, even if you didn’t win?

Laurel – I don’t know if it’s a title you really want. I guess there’s a small part of it that’s kind of a cool fact, but I would’ve much rather gotten some votes or actually won the game. So, not really (laughs).

I was talking to Dom earlier, and he said that he never thought about a tie because he thought you would get Donathan’s vote. Were you surprised you didn’t?

I was. Obviously there are no hard feelings now, but in the moment I was really disappointed by Donathan. Walking into that final tribal, I thought his vote was a no-brainer and that was a miscalculation on my part. I thought I also had Ang’s vote and I thought I had some of the Malolo votes like Libby or Jenna. It definitely hurt in the moment, but I kind of saw how it was going at the final tribal where no one was sticking up for me. I thought that Donathan would have been an advocate for me in the game. I saw the frustration that he had, watching it back, and that explains a lot.

Walking in, I definitely thought that I had a whole lot more votes than I had walking out.

The show made a meal out of the immunity idol Wendell played on him, but I’m guessing you would have voted for him regardless.

That was one or two days before the end of the game — I had already solidified things with Wendell and had already thought he played the better game. I walked into Tribal thinking that Dom wasn’t going to do very well. It was a general consensus that Wendell had played a stronger game and that Dom had pissed off a lot of jurors on their way out. I don’t think that was really shown.

For me, I didn’t need to hear him call me a sister or give me the necklace to know that my vote was going to be going towards him — unless something crazy happened in the last day of the game.

How did you and Donathan find a way to trust two people from another tribe in a game that was so much about tribal lines? For so much of the season we heard so much about ‘Naviti Strong’ that it could’ve become a drinking game.

I think you saw the people on the bottom come together. Donathan and I were not in a good place on Malolo — you saw a majority form without us and I hated my positioning there. I was really eager to find a way to work with the other side. It was clear that Naviti was going to have advantage, and it didn’t seem as though Dom and Wendell were thrilled with things on the Naviti side. They were looking to shake things up also. So, you had four people who had a mutually beneficial interest in working across tribal lines — we just also got along really well! These were three of my closest friends in the game and those who I trusted more than anyone. They were the ones I thought were the best for my game, and we also just really, genuinely liked each other.

You said some smart stuff a few episodes ago where you were getting pitches to make some other moves. Based on how I read it, you may have been able to make a move on Dom and Wendell, but that may not get you to the end. Were you just cognizant of the fact that with their idols and power, taking them out was not going to end well for you?

I think you saw how badly I wrestled with that every day. With the way that the game was going, I thought I was damned if I do and damned if I don’t. I could take out one of these guys, sure, and that takes out a big player, but then that opens things up for the other side and I’m on the bottom. I really thought that if I’d flipped earlier in the game, I was just handing it to either Kellyn or Michael.

Obviously, looking back I wish I did make a move since I may have had a chance to win going another direction. But, in the moment I really thought it was my best shot. In order to win at the end you have to get to the end and I thought that was my only shot at getting to the end.

Do you have any interest in coming back?

I would say now that I’d play again, but I came out of the game emotionally gutted and physically exhausted. Right out of the game, I told everyone I would never do this again because it wrecked me. Now that some time has passed and I’ve had a chance to process everything, I’d say I would play again. I’d probably take bigger shots — it became clear to me at the final tribal council that people wanted to see a big, flashy move. They wanted to see an idol play or an immunity win. If a jury is not going to respect subtler gameplay and want a flashier move, I have to be that way.

Related – Be sure to get some other interviews from the finale!

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