‘Survivor: Blood vs. Water’ interview: Marissa Peterson on Brad Culpepper, Gervase, more (exclusive)

Marissa Peterson had a different journey than most on “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” (and any other season, for that matter). She was the first person actually voted out at tribal council, but for a good two weeks looked as though she was going to be able to return to the game via staying alive in a pair of duels at Redemption Island.

However, Marissa’s quest to go the distance and re-enter the game was short-lived, as she was defeated by Candice and John Cody on Wednesday night’s new episode. There was clearly quite a bit to get through with Marissa this afternoon in our one-on-one exit interview, whether it be her time on the tribe with Brad Culpepper, why her uncle Gervase’s celebrating probably had little to do with her demise, and also just how psyched she was to see Brad voted out of the game last night.

CarterMatt – This has gotta be kind of a crazy thing for you, because you were so young when Gervase first played ‘Survivor.’ Was there ever a time for you over the past decade or so when you ever thought that you’d get a chance to do something like this?

Marissa Peterson – I had always thought like ‘this is Gervase’s game, Survivor is his thing,’ and I’d just find my own thing to do … I just never thought that it would be a reality.

And how are things with you guys now? Was you getting voted out more about what had happened with Gervase celebrating at the challenge, or for what you said that very first day about Brad in front of everyone when he [insinuated] that he would possibly throw something for Monica?

Everything’s fine. Everyone thinks that I would be more upset about my tribe blaming Gervase for me being voted out, but our tribe was not going to be in tribal council, period, had our puzzle people not lost the challenge. [My tribemates can be like] ‘oh, we don’t want him to have somebody to work with at the merge with that kind of attitude,’ but why are you thinking that far ahead? I just felt like even if Gerv wouldn’t have celebrated like that, they would have been like ‘we don’t want to work with somebody who can’t swim.’ I just felt like I got on Brad Culpepper’s bad side, and that’s what happened.

I don’t know if I would get along that well with Brad Culpepper out there in the game. Was he really that intense all of the time?

Seriously! I’m glad they showed a part of it, because I knew they were going to show me going off on him, and I wanted it to seem like [there was a reason]. But even some of the comments that he said, like the comment about Caleb ‘not being a man, he’s a gay man.’ Things like that he would say all of the time, and nobody would say anything. People would look at each other like ‘I can’t believe he said that,’ but they wouldn’t do anything. It almost reminded me of Phillip, where nobody would say anything, and they would still let him be the same way. [They would just say] ‘he’s fine,’ or ‘he’s not hurting me,’ or ‘as long as it’s not me.’ They don’t care. I was just like ‘let’s keep this tribe strong so that we don’t have to vote anybody out, period.’

Let’s talk about these puzzle people [in Ciera and Katie] for a second. Have they been doing more than we’re seeing, or are they just lucky that other people keep getting voted out?

That’s one thing that I didn’t understand. From what I could see at the challenge Ciera was working working working, and Katie was being really slow. I remember clapping like ‘come on girl, keep trying.’ And of course it frustrates me being at Redemption Island and seeing them get beat by both their moms, it’s like ‘dang.’ I feel like they are just getting by, and I feel like I was good enough to do more than just get by, and I could actually help the tribe and do stuff.

Now you were maybe in the most awkward Redemption Island situation ever. What was it like being there with Candice and John?

People don’t even know, but it was strange for John because me and Candice were always acting like a married couple before. Like, I would go out before the sun went down and try to catch some fish, and bring home to my woman while she was making the rice, and she would clean the fish off while I was boiling water. We had a really good setup out there, and that was why when we saw John, we were just like ‘this was not supposed to happen.’

Now I gotta get a couple of thoughts from you on some other other events that we’ve seen. You don’t seem like the kind of person who would ever quit, so what was going through your head when Colton did that?

For me, honestly, I was just thinking that this was one more person down, and it was making me feel a little bit better. Of course I had the same reaction that America did from watching, but maybe Rachel had that more than me because she left that same episode. After Colton left she was like to Jeff ‘so, can we just go back to Redemption and do this later,’ and he was like (in surprisingly good Jeff Probst voice) ‘nope, you gotta duel it out.’

Honestly, I can see why America could be upset because there are so many who want to play this game, and to see somebody quit, I know they hate that. But I would have been more upset if I was on Galong’s tribe and he quit, because he could have waited. Another thing is that they hadn’t even lost yet. So they could send him to Redemption, and he could quit right then; but I felt like they were in a pretty good spot.

Now as a viewer last night, were you stoked to see Brad be voted out after what he did to your game?

Uh, yeah. I was of so proud of Caleb, that he took advantage of that moment, because I don’t think he would have had the opportunity to rally other people before or after that. But, of course, another strong person in the tribe is gone, and how is that going to help you guys win? I don’t know.

Was Gervase really even able to prepare you for this that much, given that the game has changed and evolved so much since he was out playing in it?

It has changed drastically, but the main point after talking to some of the other castaways and hearing what their loved ones had told them was to stay under the radar, like what Rupert was telling Laura, don’t call too much attention to yourself. And right off the beginning, I didn’t keep my thoughts to myself and that was strike 1.

But sometimes I felt like some of the other people on our tribe whose castmates had been a little more recent, they were taking kind of more of a leadership role, almost like they were veterans almost. I definitely felt kind of alone in that aspect, because it had been so long ago and not everyone out there knew who Gervase was. He was like ‘how do you not know who I am, you wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t on the first season?’.

But how has the game changed your life? You grew up seeing your uncle being recognized, so what is that like now almost being in his shoes and having people know who you are?

It’s odd, because nobody has really recognized me at all. It’s like when I’m with Gerv, everyone’s just asking for his autograph. Maybe it’s because maybe my generation is watching ‘Survivor’ less and less, but I have not been recognized at all. My bosses at work have told different people in the office and people have asked to [take a picture with me], and maybe it’s because of the braid, because I had that out there when I was doing the show. I’m sure when it will come, it’ll be in like a wave.

All right, so one last thing: Outside of Gerv, are there any friends out there that you are rooting or pulling for?

Outside of Gerv, I can’t get enough of Rachel and Tyson. I love them so much. I mean, [Rachel and I] were told by our tribe that they were targeting our loved ones. So of course I’m rooting for the coconut [alliance] right now. (Laughs.)

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Photo: CBS