Survivor Micronesia: Interview with Alexis & James - "I never once lied in the game."

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FORT recently caught up with the two latest bootees from the lovely islands of Micronesia, where blindsides are rampant and infection lurks around every corner. Both James Clement and Alexis Jones were surprised to find themselves at Ponderosa Lodge this week for very different reasons. They made an eclectic mix for a group interview – and my apologies in advance, for there were times when I missed those subtitles on the screen for James. He himself admits he’s a mumbler.



Q: How are you doing?

James: All right. Chillin’.

Q: First question is, how’s the finger?

James: Finger’s good. Lot of antibiotics, a lot of bending it back and forth so-called therapy, and I’m all right.

Q; What did they do to you over there in the hospital?

James: I had two x-rays a couple of blood tests to make sure the infection hadn’t spread to my system. I had to get an IV three times a day with a bunch of different types of antibiotics. They had therapy, I had to do like finger drills.

Q: What kind of warnings do you get about infections when you arrived?

James: I live in that kind of climate – humid, sub-tropical, so I know that the danger of infection is always out there. I always know that’s one of the worst things that can happen to you because it will take hold of you and it will be bad. They warned us about it and I wasn’t surprised that it actually happened, especially being that it was so damp. It was quite humid the entire time.

Q: After watching Ozzy and Jason go down with their immunity idols, do you feel a little bit better about what happened when you had the idols in China?

James: Not too much.

Q: It doesn’t take the sting out of it at all?

James: No, Jason was pretty much [unintelligible]. I don’t know what Natalie told him, and I’m going to find out one of these days, but she must have promised him the world and the stars and everything else because he believed everything this girl’s saying. I didn’t have that problem. That wasn’t my thing. Ozzy, he was a little bit too confident in his positioning. I didn’t have that problem neither. I pretty much had a bad day and wasn’t paying attention. If I had been paying attention to all the signs out there I would have been all right. Yeah, it’s kind of reminiscent of what happened to me, but not so much. At least I’m not the only one, even though I had two of them.

Q: Alexis, how’s the knee?

Alexis: Oh, it’s doing much better, thank you very much. It turned out to just be a bad bone bruise, so I was on crutches for a little while and did some rehab, but I’m pretty golden now.

Q: Do you think you would have been taken out medically as well?

Alexis: No, because basically it was just very painful and as long as it wasn’t life-threatening, I couldn’t be taken out of the game without agreeing to it, and I wouldn’t have agreed to it.

Q: Why did everybody pick Amanda to vote out? I was wondering why people didn’t try to get Natalie out, she’s the stronger of the two.

Alexis: Strong like physically? Natalie stronger than Amanda?

(James says something unintelligible that makes Alexis laugh.)

Alexis: (laughing) Yeah, Natalie’s…not strong.

James: Well, she is. On the inside.

Alexis: (agreeing) Natalie’s strong in the inside.

Q: Persuasion-wise, maybe she’s stronger.

James: Yeah, mind control.

Alexis: Definitely. I think that Amada, and this is meant to be a compliment, was a bigger threat on the jury because people liked her. And at that point, you’re whittling down to a smaller and smaller group of people, it’s less about who’s a physical threat than who’s a jury threat, who’s a social threat. Amanda had Ozzy on the jury, she obviously had James on the jury, and people have automatics that poses a major threat.

Q: Who do you think is going to win this?

Alexis: I’m rooting for my girl Natalie.

Q: What about Cirie?

Alexis: Yeah, she’s killing it right now. I’m excited and curious to see how it pans out. I would love to see Cirie take home a million dollars just because knowing where that money would go to, her family, putting two boys through college, I’d feel good about that. I’d have no problems if Cirie is in the end.

Q: James, I shook hands with you at the China finale and you didn’t so much as wince, so it was all healed up by then?

James: Yeah, pretty much. Yes ma’am.

Q: You kept pretty close counsel because you didn’t even hint that you were on the new cast.

James: (laughing) Yeah.

Alexis: (laughing) Good.

James: Mmm-hmm.

Q: So James, you knew how the China finale went for Amanda, but the rest of the cast wouldn’t have seen Survivor China at all. Did you tell anyone about Amanda’s performance in the final Tribal Council?

James: Um, not rally, because I didn’t want to show that Amanda had any actual weaknesses. I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want to make Amanda look bad. Like she really did mess up at Tribal Council. She gets nervous, poor thing.

Q: Can you tell us who was the most hated player to the jury?

James: At that time, I wasn’t really out at that resort. I had all that medication had to be taken, so I wasn’t around the jury except at tribal council.

Q: Alexis, I was surprised in the challenge where you were picked as the 2nd top pick for the person who never stops talking, because we really didn’t get to see much of that on screen. Why do you think that is?

Alexis: I don’t know, I think there is something much more entertaining about girls who are making out.

James: (mumbling)

Alexis: (to James) Did I make out?

James: No, were there girls making out?

Alexis: Well, Amanda and Ozzy.

James: That’s not girls making out.

Alexis: You know what I mean.

James: I was like, where was I?

Alexis: Just let me answer the question! Yeah, I don’t know, there was a big story line wit the Favorites coming back because everybody knows them. So, I don’t know. I certainly do talk a lot. I’m a motivational speaker, I talk a lot.

Q: Why did you send Amanda to Exile Island?

Alexis: It was a strategic move that we were in an alliance, so I didn’t think that she would find the idol and later use it against me. I knew I wasn’t going to send one of the boys, and it was a given that if I won the challenge I was going to take Natalie with me, and during the challenge I was making deals. I made a deal with Cirie that if she didn’t cut my rope and I won, I would take her with me. So it was just between Parv and Amanda, and Amanda had already opted that she would go.

Q: Were you aware that right after the merge, Amanda was upset because she thought you were flirting with Ozzy?

Alexis: Yeah, that was a shock for me because it was not even close to being the case from my end at all. I grew up with four older brothers so I get along with guys easily, and Ozzy and I had spent an entire day on Exile. From the beginning, the moment we got on Exile, the first thing out of my mouth was, “Dude, I’m not here to flirt with you, it’s not my game, you have your alliance, I have mine, can we just kick it? Can we just hang out and have one day out of the game?” And he was like, “Absolutely.” So we ended up talking for hours about life, about everything, until we became very good friends, but it was not flirtation at all. In fact, that scene that you were referencing, Amanda was laying with us. For, like, two hours we were all laying there, talking and laughing, and then she gets up to go to the bathroom for two minutes, and of course they film it where it’s just me and Ozzy laying there. It’s the beauty of editing, and it made great TV.

But no, I didn’t know she had those sentiments about it at all. In fact, I felt awful, because I would never disrespect her by flirting with a guy that I know that she liked. So that wasn’t where I was coming from at all.

Q: Do you think that played any part at all when it came down to voting you out over Natalie?

Alexis: Yes, of course. I think it’s human nature. It made sense after that, because right when I got voted off I thought it was ridiculous. Why would you vote off the girl that can barely stand? Why would you not take her with you when you know she won’t be able to compete in the major physical challenges? I thought it was a given they would send Natalie home, the full-bodied girl. But after watching the show and seeing all the comments – and that’s what’s hard about watching the show, is that people make comments about you and you’re like, “Awww.” I guess I am pretty sensitive, you know? So yeah, then it absolutely made sense. Jealousy is a pretty powerful thing.

Q: James, I don’t know if you can call it a “relationship” or “friendship” with Parvati, but how comfortable were you around her?

James: Thing is, I’m really not comfortable around too many people, but I was extremely comfortable around her. She’s very nice, and easy to be comfortable around.

Q: Did you think she was going to protect you?

James: No, I mean, it’s Parvati. I knew when I met her that she had some kind of a wild side bout her that you do enjoy being around, but I figured she was going to do something to mess it up.

Alexis: Eat the apple? (laughing)

James: Choke on that apple.

Q: So you didn’t trust her fully?

James: I’m not really one to trust people fully. I just enjoy what people give me, and I knew she would bring me up to a point and I was going to enjoy the ride while it lasted. Make do with what was going to happen after the fact.

Q: What were your thoughts about her after she orchestrated getting Ozzy out?

James: The thing about that is that she came up to me about it in the wrong manner. She came up and told me she was at the bottom of the totem pole, which she created, and that she was at the bottom of the alliance of the four of us – which was completely untrue. Because Ozzy and I were chillin’. Ozzy did more talking than I did, but that was there thing. I just wanted to have fun and make it a good time and enjoy the ride as it was going along. They were the ones who were busted, they were the ones who pretty much put everything together. And for her to say that he was out of control, that nobody was going to accept her game and that it felt like she was riding on Ozzy and my coattails was complete lunacy. Just to hear that stuff was like, “Seriously, girl, come on.”

Q: How did your alliance break down?

James: It’s pretty much shown now, her and Amanda were tight, Ozzy was second and James – I don’t know. Like Alexis say, I’m the eye candy for some reason.

(both laughing)

Alexis: I told him he was the eye candy.

James: I don’t know why –

Alexis: -- and that when he’d served his purpose we were going to get rid of him.

James: Comic relief every once in a while.

Q: What do you think of Cirie?

James: Cirie – I don’t know. She’s sitting back, she’s chillin’. She’s playing that whole – and it works great. She’s funny, she’s witty, she makes you feel warm and inviting, which with a group of girls, that’s all you need to be to keep it moving. To make sure they’re not on you, to make sure that they’re willing to vote out anyone else but yourself. Well, she’s always like -- you know up there, if you talk to Cirie you’ve got her on your team. It seems like it’s not really that hard to play her. That was her first thing, she’s like, poor thing, she didn’t even know how to make fire, she didn’t even know how to swim. So she’s just floating right on to the end. She’s pretty much working her game and it’s a good one.

Q: If you hadn’t been medevaced, do you think you would have been voted out next?

James: If I hadn’t won the challenge. I like to jokingly say I would have wooed the girls with my poise and –

Alexis: Casanova!

James: -- yeah, the Casanova thing, but the thing about the Titanic is that the ship was sinking.

Q: Alexis, how much did you trust your alliance, and who did you think was in your alliance?

Alexis: I trusted my alliance completely, and I think a lot of that is because, well, my fault was putting my expectations that I had for myself on other people. So my strategy was, I’m going to have an alliance, I’m going to trust them with everything, and I’m never ever going to screw them over. So that’s how I played it – you know, similar to Ozzy. Let’s get four or five of us and go to the end and battle it out with immunity at that point. So I trusted them completely, obviously. That’s how you get blindsided. You give someone your trust, and then it’s lost quickly.

Q: How surprised were you when Parvati approached you?

Alexis: Initially? Not very surprised. She and I got along so well from the first time we met. She’s an incredibly gregarious girl, and I loved being around her, so I wasn’t surprised when she said, “What do you think of you, me, and Amanda in the final four?” It just made sense. At the end of the day, these are the people you’re an island with. You want the people you enjoy being around left, those last few weeks or so.

Q: Did you think Amanda had the idol at Tribal Council?

Alexis: Absolutely not. The moment I saw it I was just devastated. I knew immediately as soon as she went prancing up to Jeff, swinging that idol, my game was over. I’m sure you can see it in my expression, I’m just like, “Oh, no way.” In fact, what you don’t see is that Amanda comes up to me and is like falling, and is totally pulling on heartstrings, and is just, “Girl, just be honest. Am I the one who is going home? Just give me the respect of letting me know, don’t blindside me.” That’s the thing, all of the girls, we had a pact that we were not going to blindside each other. So, um, yeah. It was very disappointing because I was in a vulnerable state and in my own certain level of integrity, I wouldn’t have done that. But it is what it is, and she played a phenomenal game, there’s no doubt about that. It was an incredible move, and I don’t fault her for it. She played the game.

Q: Everyone seems to like you, Alexis, and says that you’re honest. And yet you played a part in blindsiding Jason, and Ozzy, and way back in the beginning even Mary. How do you feel about that?

Alexis: I was never in an alliance with any of them, so as far as blindsiding, I think that I never once gave someone my word and then went back on it. I never once lied in the game. I never told any of those people that I wouldn’t vote for them, and at the end of the day someone’s going home. So it’s not like I went in it so ignorant that I thought I was gonna be – I mean, I had to write someone’s name down. So my strategy, and what was important to me, was just making sure that my word was my word. I think that’s where people are picking up on the honesty.

Q: Your relationship with Amanda – if she made it to the finals, would you have voted for her or not?

Alexis: I absolutely respect her game. We chose to play the game very differently but I certainly don’t fault her for that. I think that outside the game she’s a great girl, so a lot of it is what your motive is in giving someone a million dollars. I have no beef with her whatsoever; I think she’s a doll. I would have no problem seeing her in the final two or three.

Q: Do you have any regrets?

Alexis: Oh, not a single one. I had the time of my life out there. It’s easy to say, “Oh I shoulda, coulda, woulda,” hindsight is 20/20, but I played the best game I could at the time and I had a good time.



Q: What was the most difficult aspect of living out there?

Alexis: Hands down the most difficult for me was being away from my family for that long. I’m really close to my family and it’s a part of who I am, so having to be in complete isolation from them was very difficult for me. But the best thing about it for me was that everything is very relative, and my idea of “hard” has been completely redefined. I think my threshold for living life not by circumstances but in spite of circumstances, and maintaining a positive attitude in lieu of them, was really what I got to walk away with. When a million dollars is being dangled in front of your face, you can put a price tag on your integrity just because it’s a game and justify that – and to walk away from that and know that I can’t is a good thing to know about myself.

Q: James, what was the difference between your China experience and your Micronesia experience?

James: Micronesia was a lot easier. We were on a beach, we had a cave, we had coconuts falling from the sky to feed us and give us drinks. China was rough. Like I’ve been telling these other Survivors, “Y’all wasn’t on Survivor. I was in China. We had to survive out there.” Everything else is pretty much a cake walk. The biggest thing to me was the elements, the environment.

Q: In the China game, you said that you needed to be social. Was there a difference in your social game?

James: There was a difference in my social game. I was kind of somewhat kinda sorta flirting on this one.

Alexis: Kinda sorta?

James: Kinda sorta –

Alexis: Mmm-hmm.

James: Maybe kinda, if you look at it with switch eyes, yeah. I was flirting. I was definitely more sociable, which is one thing that actually being on the show of Survivor, both of them, has helped me open up and be more of a people-type person. Which I’m not used to being, and now I’m kind of like a people person. On the second show I was definitely a whole lot more sociable than the first one.

Q: Is there anything you would have done differently in Micronesia?

James: Not messed with coconut butter. Leave that stuff alone. Definitely don’t put that inside cuts inside your finger. You’ll get infected, then they’ll put you out because of a booboo. How about that?

Q: What’s your relationship to Parvati?

James: I don’t know, she’s a unique individual and I enjoy being around her. Everything else, I’m just playing it by ear. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just kind of chillin’. I ask that question myself.

Q: What’s your life like after Survivor?

James: Pretty much the same thing. I go to work, I do what I do best, and that’s about it. Everything’s been a whole lot more – I mean, I’m out more, and people talk to me more than they usually do, but I guess I’m not as inviting and warm as I thought I was before. Apparently, I looked pretty mean. All of a sudden people are talking to me and shaking my hand, and it’s all cool. I’m enjoying it.

Q: Anything else you’d like to share about your experience?

James: That’s pretty much it. I had a good time, met some cool people, taught them how to look at sunsets, and [unintelligible] and girl power and all that.

Q: What did you learn most about yourself?

James: I can talk to people. Even though I do mumble a lot and you might not actually understand what I’m saying, it’s not that bad, learning new things about people.

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