‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X’ exclusive: Will Wahl on resume-building, Ken’s decision, bond with Jay

At just 18 years old and still technically a high-school student at the time, Will Wahl was the youngest castaway ever to be on “Survivor”; yet, we don’t think he’ll necessarily be remembered for that first and foremost. Instead, he was a player who tried to take complete control of the game (in a super-entertaining fashion) and was responsible for getting Zeke out of the game; unfortunately, executing this said move and having it be so well-known is ultimately what sent him home.

Early this morning, we had a chance to speak with Will about everything associated with the game, and we do think that we managed to cover a lot of ground in a relatively-short period of time.

CarterMatt – Watching yourself be voted out last night, did that trigger some of those emotions and memories that you had of the game?

Will Wahl – Yeah, it really did. I was seeing flashbacks all the way from day one to my final day. I was reliving that whole experience in that 30-minute timespan that it was on last night. It really took me back to the island.

It was only thirty minutes, so I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff we didn’t see. Let’s start with this: How surprised were you that there was so many votes for you that came up?

Not really. At Tribal, I started to feel really nervous. If you had asked me that question a few hours before Tribal, I would have told you ‘yeah, I would be shocked,’ but at Tribal I was really nervous and was starting to get this vibe that Bret and Sunday had flipped on me, just as I had done to them on this past vote. It ended up happening, and I ended up getting six of the votes. I felt this feeling in the pit of my stomach like ‘I might be going tonight.’

And you know this game; very few people ever flip at Tribal. So when you started to get that feeling, was there anything you could’ve done?

I think my only hope was if Jay played that idol for me and pulled an Adam — he knew he had immunity. He didn’t do it, and I ended up going. I don’t think I would’ve been able to convince Bret and Sunday at Tribal to not vote for me. I don’t think that was going to happen.

Was there any talk with Jay about him playing the idol for you? It felt on the show like he wasn’t going to use it on anyone other than himself.

He actually worked out deals with me that he was going to play the idol for me in certain instances. Whether or not he was telling me the truth or just leading me on is iffy, I guess. I knew in the back of my mind that he wasn’t going to play the idol for me; he has his own reasons for being out there and he’s not going to save me no matter how close we were in the game.

One thing I found really interesting about Jay was that people like you or Adam would vote against him, and then he would still come around and try to work with you, and maybe that’s because he didn’t really have anyone else. What was your relationship like with Jay out there?

I think that’s a big part of it — he didn’t really have anyone else to work with. He and I were like brothers out there, and I feel like he and Adam had a similar relationship. I’ll flip on Jay and not tell him what my plan is, but then we’ll get back from Tribal and he’ll give me a hug and say ‘Will, I love you like a brother. Let’s keep working in this game together. Let’s keep moving forward.’ It’s something that for me, I never really was used to that or expecting that from a player in ‘Survivor,’ it kind of took me aback.

Jay was a lot more trustworthy towards me than I was towards him, and it was a really interesting dynamic because I don’t know why he was that trustworthy to me. The only explanation I could come up with in my head is like you said: He didn’t really have anyone else.

On the show they showed you talking a lot about resumes. Is that something that really was a big subject of conversation for people out there, or was that more tied to you exclusively?

People would talk about it a little bit, but I probably talked about it the most. I was really concerned about the resume. I really thought that if I didn’t have a big ‘Survivor’ resume, nobody was going to take me seriously in the end. I was under the impression that I needed to build up this resume, and I talked about it a lot. It was a really meta game.

I was trying to think about the Zeke vote and everything that happened there, because I think it could’ve been a good move, but it seemed like everyone knew why it was that you were making it. Was there a way to do that more covertly?

It could’ve been a lot more covert, and that’s what I wanted it to be. Unfortunately when Ken went back to Jay and ratted out my game, everything went out the window. I didn’t really have a choice at that point; I had to make a decision, and that decision was going to be broadcast to everyone in the game.

Let’s talk about this Ken thing, because this is not something that happens in ‘Survivor’! When you were out there and seeing what he was doing, what was going through your head?

Ken is a great guy, but I worked very, very hard to try to gain his trust. Ever since the merge, I felt like I had to go through an application / interview process with him. I would have to have conversations with him every day where he would grill me about trust questions. After a few weeks I got fed up with it, but I wanted him as an ally. When he finally says ‘Will, I trust you,’ then he goes around and betrays my trust by telling the entire tribe what my plan is. It blows my mind, and you see me being very furious. I still don’t know why he did it.

At the end of the day, it is one of the things in ‘Survivor.’ You’ve gotta be able to realize what people are going to do and figure out ways to tell them [things]. In hindsight, I probably should have never told Ken that his name was getting brought up, since that’s what triggered him and got him to turn around and blow up my game, because he thought his game was getting blown up and he’d be going home.

So, it really was a big, giant mess. I don’t think it just blew up my game; it also blew up his a little bit.

Who has the better ‘Survivor’ voice — you or Ken?

(Laughs) This actually was talked about on the island. I’ll say Ken, because it’s kind of arrogant to say myself.

Look at you, Will! So humble.

Speaking of [being humble], how were you able to accept the vote so quickly and not be bitter upon leaving the game? You didn’t pull a Judd and call anyone a ‘scumbag,’ and you didn’t throw anything in the fire. What does this say about your relationship to ‘Survivor’ to be like ‘I’m disappointed, but it’s a game and I’m moving on’?

I think the smile on my face says it all. As I was voted out I was like ‘d–n I lost,’ but ‘wow, this is crazy.’ It’s a game. When I was leaving I didn’t feel any animosity and bitterness towards anyone. I just wished them luck, and hoped that they enjoyed the rest of their game.

Is there any one move you regret, or wish you had done but didn’t?

I wish that I could have voted Zeke out a little later. I think I voted him out too early, and I think that came back to bite me and get me eliminated. I think if I had been able to prolong the Zeke vote a little bit longer, another Tribal Council or two, and maybe work with Jay to maybe get Zeke out, that could’ve been a more beneficial way to move forward.

In the end, do you think that your age was an asset or a hindrance in the game? Could you have pulled a Julia [Sokolowski] and claimed that you were 21 to change perception?

I think that in the beginning, it definitely helped me. People didn’t look at me as a big, giant threat, and I was in the middle of both alliances and I was able to work the middle a little bit.

As the game progressed, it became a disadvantage because everyone looked at me as the young kid who was going to get dragged to the end. That’s what I wanted to avoid, and there’s this stigma that young people can’t play ‘Survivor,’ that they’re too immature and don’t understand life.

I’m assuming that a guy like you wants to play the game again, so if that happens, would you want it to be soon or a few years down the road? Also, what would you change about your game?

I would it to be a few years down the road, and my approach would be to lie low in the beginning, but have one or two ride-or-dies, and as these big threats are taking each other out, me and these people I trust the most will move forward in the game.