Survivor: David vs. Goliath interview: Kara Kay talks her fourth-place finish
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Speaking to CarterMatt at the finale earlier this week, Kara touched on her overall run this season, what she would’ve done differently, and the amount of work she put into her social game.
CarterMatt – How glad are you to be able to talk finally about your season?
Kara Kay – How exciting is this? I can actually speak freely about what happened in the game! It’s unreal, and it is a big relief.
How many nightmares about fire have you had over the past several months?
Oh my gosh. A lot of them involved my using the wrong side of the knife or getting burned — just kidding (laughs). It’s a tough pill to swallow. I liked the fire-making challenge because it gave me a shot to have the fate of the game in the palm of my hand. I couldn’t figure it out, and so I [ended up leaving].
I want to go back to the Dan vote, when you were telling people you wanted to vote him out. I was worried at the time that this would make them want to target you, because you were willing to turn on your closest ally. Yet, they didn’t, and they still trusted you! How did you pull that off?
That was a long time in the works. Nobody wants to work with the person who is about to take out their closest ally. I went into the game wanting to play a really loyal game, but that takes a partner who really understands the ins and outs of the game as well as you do. Everyone knew that we were working together, and with that, it didn’t really [benefit us]. You’ve seen this on Blood vs. Water. The people who do the best are the ones who are separated from their loved ones.
In this case, we were in an alliance but I knew that we had to separate. I conveyed that to everyone else in the game to the point that they understood where my head was at and what my intentions were.
After that vote, you were about to move around and maybe be a #1 or #2 ally for a number of different people. Was there ever a struggle of maintaining relationships and a fear of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person?
Oh gosh, yes. There’s always a point where you think you’re going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person, but this is truly a season of voting blocks. It wasn’t really about alliances; the David vs. Goliath theme stayed true throughout the whole season, but [the gameplay] was a lot about relationships and who trusts who. I think that was where my game shined.
Where do you think you could have made a different move so that you are sitting at the final three?
It’s going to come back to the final four immunity challenge. I knew going into that challenge that this was the time I could take the game into my hands. So yeah, I would try to figure out how to not drop the ball (laughs).
Let’s say you win that challenge — who are you taking to the end?
Mike and Angelina and it’s really simple — three Goliaths, and three people who played very similar games. Nick played a very dynamic game was very different than mine. It would’ve been hard to sit next to him.
How much do you think about going back?
I think about it a lot, especially watching it back or while watching other seasons, wondering how you could have done it differently. I think a lot of people in this cast think the same way. I would do some things differently for sure.
Related – Be sure to check out some more Survivor finale interviews
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