Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers interview: Mike Zahalsky talks his rollercoaster game
In our finale exit interview Mike talks about his underdog story, how he managed to go from being in constant danger to outlasting many of his fellow players, and one of the major things he would change in the event he was to play again.
CarterMatt – Looking back, what do you think about your overall game this season?
Mike Zahalsky – I said at the beginning of this season that I was either going to go out first or I was going to win Survivor. I knew I was going to be underestimated and I thought I was going to play a pretty good social game; I always thought there might be someone like Joe who was going to go in and try to vote me out.
Survivor exceeded all of my expectations both in how fun it was and how enjoyable it was [and also] the personal relationships you build with people. I think honesty, Devon had a lot to do with that. Devon made my Survivor experience really enjoyable. (Note: Devon was also on the line during this interview.)
In the early days when Joe was throwing your name out there left and right, did you feel like your days were numbered if you had to go to Tribal Council? Or, did you have a backup plan in case you lost?
I always have a backup plan, but as we’ve seen my plans never work. I probably would’ve gone home (laughs). I did not expect so soon into the game [to be targeted]. I jumped off the marooning ship when Jeff said there was a minute left. In that moment, Joe was able to see that I was looking for an advantage and that Ryan and I were the only guys doing that. From that moment Joe was like ‘this guy’s a player, we’re on the same tribe, and we can’t have two players on the same tribe. I’m taking out this other guy.’
At that point, there was a target on my back and I did not expect that. I did not expect that people would make me a target literally within a minute of the game. It throws you for a loop! I had to wake up every morning and think ‘there are other possibilities here.’
We’ll never know for sure who would’ve went home at that first vote, but if you ask all of the Healers we’ll all probably say six different people.
After the tribe swap, was there conversation about throwing a challenge to get rid of Ben or Lauren?
Yes. Absolutely we should’ve thrown a challenge. When I saw Ben, I knew that he was the biggest threat in the game. In my [pre-game interview] with Josh Wigler he asked ‘who’s the biggest threat’ and I was like ‘this guy [Ben] is the biggest threat. He’s going to win if I don’t win it.’ At the tribe swap I wanted to throw a challenge and we talked about it. But, there were two reasons we didn’t throw a challenge. One, Ben was such a good player that I felt bad for him. I wanted to keep him further because I liked him so much. He was a very likable guy and I knew he would get to the end.
But, the other issue was that you never knew which way Cole was coming or going … There was no way to say ‘Cole, we’re going to throw a challenge and get rid of Ben’ and know that he was actually going to do it.
After Joe was gone it seemed like you were in trouble, but you found a way to hang around after that and may have lasted even further were it not for Ryan voting for you. How were you able to keep yourself safe for as long as you did?
The reality was that Joe had to go home. Joe and Ashley had both come to me before I made my whole Statue of Liberty speech [at the Cole vote] saying that I’m going to be in a secret alliance with them. I knew I was safe. Chrissy’s an actuary; why didn’t they split the votes correctly? It was because there were people who refused to write my name down. The reason I played my idol was that I thought Cole still had an idol [from under the flag, which Ryan actually had]. I needed to make sure that I was staying and I wanted to make sure that I got an extra vote in the final three from Joe. Joe at some point had to go home. If Joe had to go home before Ben, that was fine — it was then Ben, then Chrissy. If Lauren goes home before Ben, fine — but it kept getting narrower and narrower and Ben kept finding all of those idols. It destroyed my game. At some point the numbers ran out on me.
What’s been the reaction to you being on the show? Have you found that patients are really excited to talk with you about it all the time?
Do I think patients are coming to be because I’m a Survivor? No, but they are psyched to talk with me about it. It’s been an amazing life experience and really wonderful for my family and my friends. The Mayor of my town had a watch party for me [for the finale].
If you were to go back, what would you change about your game?
Well, I’d vote off a lot more people directly! (Laughs). I feel like I played a pretty social and strategic game. [As for changes,] I feel like a lot of people at the merge try to get out the physical threats like the Coles and the JPs and the Ashleys, but I feel like had we gotten out the mental threats faster — the Chrissys and the Ryans — my game would’ve been much different.
There is some luck that goes into it. I think if you put the same 18 people out there five different times, there’d be a different winner each time — but, I feel like the top third would still be the top third a majority of those times.
Want more Survivor interviews?
Then check out our finale interviews with Ryan, Chrissy, and Ben! We’ll have our interview with Devon online Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time.
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