Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers interview: Chrissy Hofbeck talks game, why she’s not angling to return
Ultimately, this Chrissy Hofbeck exit interview isn’t designed to play the what-if game; instead, this is meant more as a reflection on what was a great run and a very good season in the home stretch. She drops a lot of good insight in here and also has some interesting things to say about why she’s not angling to return to the game.
CarterMatt – Looking back at the season and the finale, how are you feeling about the end result?
Chrissy Hofbeck – Of course, I came out wanting to win this season, but I’m so proud of my game and so proud of how well I did. I’m proud of second place and I think that Ben played an awesome game. We both would’ve been awesome winners so I’m not leaving feeling disappointed. I’m feeling really proud of how I did.
I am proud that I won all of those challenges — Of course I wanted to win, but it’s okay!
When you were at the final Tribal Council, did you get a sense of what the feeling was in the room? Were there people who you thought you were going to get?
Going in, I felt pretty sure that Cole and Joe were going to be a lock on Ben and there wasn’t going to be changing that. That’s okay. I had a really great relationship with Ashley and Dr. Mike and I felt like they would vote for me. They were also extremely positive during the [final tribal] conversation on my game.
I did think that Lauren and Desi and JP were kind of up in the air. I really think it could have come out any way for any of us. Ryan also played a great game.
The vote I was the most surprised about was the vote by JP [for Ben] since it seemed like you two were so close. Were you surprised?
No. Coming out of Tribal I felt like JP had voted for Ben. JP and I were very close and I’m a huge JP fan. I love that guy. But, at the end of the day he’s the sort of guy who thinks along the same sort of lines as Joe and Cole. He’s a guy’s guy and he preferred that more rough-and-tumble type of gameplay than my gameplay of winning challenges and staying true to alliances.
I want to talk about that challenge prowess. Are you one of those people who went and studied Survivor challenges before going out there? Or, was your puzzle-solving ability just the result of your analytical skills?
I have loved puzzles my entire life. Ever since maybe seventh grade I’ve had a stack of puzzle books on my nightstand. I do puzzles every night before I go to bed. The funny thing about me is that I’m actually an introvert — I pretend to be an extrovert. A lot of my quiet time, trying to regain my energy, over the past several years has been sitting down and doing puzzles.
Coming into this game, I think 30 years of doing puzzles prepared me. Seeing a puzzle like the one at the final five, [though], I’d never seen a puzzle like that! [Challenge producer] John Kirhoffer is so amazing with what he comes up with. I do think that a lot of my past practice did help me with seeing the answer.
[As for] some of the other practice I did before the game I joined a pool, I swam laps — of course, I knew how to swim, but I hadn’t really swam since I was six or seven years old. That was probably it.
How beneficial was it for you that you had this connection with Ryan thanks to that idol, not that you needed it, at the start of the game?
I’m very thankful that Ryan gave me the idol, though I have to say that going into that first Tribal Council I knew that I was not going to get any votes. I was already in tight lockstep with Ben and Alan. I’m a huge Alan Ball fan, as well. JP and Ashley were with us; Katrina is wonderful but she was sort of the lone wolf. I knew I wasn’t going to have to use the idol.
Truthfully, going into new Soko I would have gotten with Ryan regardless of the idol. JP and I needed another number, Ali attached herself to Roark, and then there was Ryan. I fell in love with Ryan right away. He’s awesome. We’re very similar people even though I’m a lot older than him — we spent a lot of time together. I aligned with Ryan because he’s Ryan, not because he gave me an idol.
Is there any way you could have taken out Ben? I mean, this guy was protected for weeks and you couldn’t have predicted the fire-making twist. Was there an opportunity to take him out?
Hindsight’s 20-20, right? If we could have seen into the future and known there would be a final four twist, we wouldn’t have left it for so long. Should we have taken him out earlier? Yeah, but we’re not psychic. We did the best with the information that we had.
Looking back, I know I didn’t win but I have to say this: I don’t regret any part of my game. I played the best that I could and the hardest that I could. I’m really proud of how I did.
Are you interested in going back?
Right now, I feel like [I wouldn’t]. I loved my experience. I feel a lot of people go back to improve on what they did previously but for me, I’m so happy with how I did. I don’t feel the need to go back and try and win.
Had I won the season, I 100% would have wanted to go back to play a winners’ season. [With that said] if Jeff Probst calls me and says ‘Chrissy, I want you to come back and play again,’ I would certainly hear him out. I’d give it a good thought.
Now, I would go and do The Amazing Race with one of my kids. I’m all about experiences. I had this experience. It was wonderful and I loved it a lot. I don’t know if I need to go have it again.
Did you miss our interview with Ben?
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