Survivor: David vs. Goliath interview: Did Mike White really want Nick out at final five?

Entering Survivor: David vs. Goliath, Mike White was one of the more notable contestants. It was hard for him not to be. The writer / actor was a known commodity both in the entertainment industry and also CBS reality TV. We thought he would be a target from the jump and that’s precisely what he ended up being. Yet, at the same time he was able to overcome that, make it far into the game, and actually make it reasonably close to winning the grand prize. He received the votes of Kara, Alison, and Christian at the final tribal council.

New Survivor video! – Be sure to check out some more thoughts on Wednesday night’s finale at the bottom of this article! Meanwhile, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube to get some other discussion and check out our Survivor playlist.

So how did Mike change up his game, and did he really intend on getting out Nick at the final five, had he not won immunity? While we were at the Survivor: David vs Goliath season finale last night CarterMatt spoke with Mike on the red carpet.

CarterMatt – Going into this season, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was worried people were going to hold Amazing Race against you…

Mike White – They did.

They targeted you right away?

Yeah, I felt like I was a target. I had looked for the idol too, and I realized in that moment that I had to play a different game. I gotta take the spotlight off me and put it on everyone else.

One of the things that I was most impressed by with you is that you were able to, for at least most the game, line up a bigger target in front of you and still work behind the scenes. How were you able to do that without people seeing you as a threat?

Survivor is about patience, and while I think everyone pressures you to try to make big moves, for me it was about coming on strong towards the end. If you can come on strong towards the end you can still win it. Nick obviously played a great game, and he started to win a lot of challenges towards the end. A lot of it is about how you can have the biggest impression towards the end. A lot of people would try to make big moves early on and they would self-destruct and I was just like bye.

If Nick doesn’t win immunity at the final five, would you have taken him out?

Probably. I love Nick, but I was Goliath strong and I was constantly trying to get the Davids out. I knew that if there was a David at the end that they were probably going to win. Nick was the last David that I was really targeting, mostly because if I was going to lose to somebody, I was willing to lose to Nick. He’s a great guy and we’re friends, so I was okay with him. I was happy to keep him in and he was working with me, but if push comes to shove, I knew that the best chance any of the Goliaths had was if it was just us at the end.

So do you want to go through playing Survivor again, or are you good now after this season?

I think I’m good.

Related – Check out our interview with the winner, Nick!

For those wondering about Mike’s future career-wise, keep on the lookout for a Disney adaptation of The One and Only Ivan coming in the future.

Were you rooting for Mike to win Survivor: David vs. Goliath? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: CBS.)