‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’ interview: Francesca Hogi on Phillip, rocks

It’s never easy to be the first person eliminated from “Survivor,” but to be the first person ever eliminated in such a way on two seasons in a row is a rather dubious honor. To Francesca Hogi’s credit, she played hard both times in which she appeared on the show, with her recent outing on “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites” being one that was especially memorable. She came in afraid of such a thing happening, and even said that she would “eat a rock” if she did get sent packing right away.

Well, we touched on the rock dilemma in our brief chat with Francesca on Thursday following the premiere, as well as a few other topics related to her time on the show. She may not be the best “Survivor” player ever, but given her capacity for entertainment, we do very much wish that she was a part of the show for a much longer stretch of time.

Cartermatt.com – Let’s start with what we were wondering for a while before the game: why would the tribe want to keep Malcolm around? No one knew who he was before the game, and and it would scare the heck out of me to not know what this guy did to get him on this season.

On day one, and I know that I was not the only person saying this, I [knew] that this was the devil that I don’t know. He might be someone that I don’t want to keep around for too long, but he also has the benefit of being a young, fit guy, and we were out-muscled by the fans overall. It wasn’t feasible; no one would’ve went with getting rid of Malcolm first. It just wasn’t on the radar.

Okay, well now that you’ve been voted off twice first now and you’re going to have to go eat a rock…

Actually, even though I don’t really remember this, I said that ‘I will eat this rock.’ So if somebody can go out there and actually reproduce this rock…

I’ll get a team on it. Anyway, for you were you okay with going out first twice given that you did play an aggressive game? You probably could have stayed longer had you laid low, but you also probably would have had no shot at winning.

It’s not my personality to be too laid-back, and I didn’t feel that I was playing so hard. I was trying to be a team player and I did get along with everyone except for Phillip, and that doesn’t count. (Laughs.) I’m okay with being the first person out; since I was out first last time, it’s much more symmetrical than going out second or third or fourth. I get to be the polar opposite of Sandra, and now every person who has ever played ‘Survivor’ is on a spectrum between me and Sandra.

In speaking of Phillip, do you think that with his ‘BR rules’ and the new way he’s playing the game, he actually has a shot at winning if he makes it to the end? Or, do you think that his reputation precedes him?

I think that Phillip is the kind of player that if he did make it to the end, given his personality and how insufferable he is, that he could get votes from people saying ‘I gotta respect that the got was able to get himself in that position.’ But it’s just very difficult for me to imagine Phillip ever winning ‘Survivor.’ He’s just entirely too unlikable.

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At the end of the day, we’re not going to label Francesca the worst player ever mostly for two reasons:

1. She at least tried to make moves, even though they backfired.

2. She didn’t quit the game. Quitters are always worse in our book.

If you do want to go back and read our full review of the premiere, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: CBS