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It's a two-fer this week, as chef Mike was sidelined by health issues and cop Betsy was taken out by the snaky Russell. Read on as they both shared their thoughts on Russell, Ben, and bathroom issues in this conference call:
Mike, about your illness. On the episode, they were all talking heart attack...
Mike: No, no. My blood pressure fell, I think it was like 90 over 60 or 50, and I just wasn’t pumping blood to my extremities and head. But I knew I was coming back, and an hour later after they took me away I was fine. I was having ice cream, laughing and joking around, and I was ready to go back into the game!
But they wouldn’t reverse the decision?
Mike: No, you know...they took the blood test to check for heart attack. Everything was negative, even the medics were saying you didn’t have a heart attack, you were dehydrated, and that’ll do it to you.
Yeah. Now, what was your original strategy going in?
Mike: Into the game? I was gonna kick ass and take names. I wanted to make an impression and show, especially the young guys who were kinda cocky, you know, bring them down a notch, like I said.
This is for both of you. What’s your view of Russell and Ben?
Betsy: Okay. Russell: you can’t put it to words, you just gotta look at him, okay? [laughing] Idiot! Never liked Russell. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I probably liked him the first five minutes when he told me he was a fireman. I’m thinking cool, great alliance. And then, probably after like, two more minutes, I’m thinking no. Fireman have a heart and soul, he doesn’t have either one so he’s definitely not a fireman. Yep. I don’t like Russell at all. Ben, I do like, believe it or not. I do like Ben. He just needs to smarten up a little more, and respect his elders a little bit better. [laughs] It’ll come in time, I hope. Because he is 28 now that I think of it. So he should get a grasp of it by now. He just opens his mouth without thinking, and they played it down. Like, the Tribal Council - he really was a real jerk. And they played that down, they edited a lot out. Jeff Probst had so much patience with him, he really did! But at least there’s hope for Ben, there’s no hope for Russell.
Mike: I agree about Ben, I like Ben. I thought he was a good kid, but he just didn’t know when to shut up. In fact, a lot of times I kept going to him “Just shut up, what are you doing?” You know? It’d be like, (he’d) make a face like an ass****, that’s it. What’s wrong with you? Stop! And Russell I thought, and I think now he’s kind of a jerk and sleazy, but...I give him credit for being well planned and organized and knew what he wanted to do, and he did it. He got us!
Fair enough. Betsy, you seemed to see through Russell’s crap early on. Why didn’t you rally the troops to get rid of him?
Betsy: I didn’t have really great proof that he was a snake, it was just a feeling that I had. I didn’t know he was emptying the canteens, I didn’t know he was burning socks, I didn’t have real proof that he was an idiot, I just knew he was! And I didn’t have solid evidence to prove to Natalie and Ashley and Liz that he was as low as you can be. You know, I did try, but they would not even...just seemed like they wanted to calculate it. Their minds just closed down, they didn’t want to hear it. I don’t know how he did it, but he definitely has them under his spell.
That’s actually my next question. Does it bother you that nobody seems to remember past seasons?
Betsy: [laughs] Yes, yes! But being out there in the game, you forget all that.
Mike: It’s a different situation when you’re there. I had a whole plan and as soon as I got there, it was everything opposite of what I was planning to do. It’s easy to put a game plan in your head, but then when you’re out in the field, it’s like...uh oh!
Betsy: Yeah, it’s so much easier to play at home.
Were you guys surprised to see Russell and Jaison working together?
Betsy: Yes, I was more surprised about that than Russell finding the immunity idol. I just hope he doesn’t get sucked into his web. Because Jaison in a good kid. He’s a good boy, and I hope he’s gonna show Russell up.
Mike: I don’t know, he might be too smart for his own good. He’s too intellectual, too cerebral. He’s playing chess and Russell’s playing checkers, you know? I don’t know, I hope he doesn’t get screwed up because of that.
Betsy, a question for you. Everybody wants to know the story of how you got on the show!
Betsy: Oh, really? It’s really not that exciting, actually. I just wanted to get a little vacation in while the kids were younger, and it’s the only way I knew I was gonna get a vacation. And it just looks wonderful without doing laundry or cooking or anything like that. So that’s how it started. And then I just couldn’t stop. Because I watched the show more and more, and it’s like I love it, I love it, I gotta be there, that should be me! And then on my thirteenth tape, they finally came to see the light, said yes, this is the girl! But this was going to be my last tape, I wasn’t going to do another tape after this. But I did say that after the fifth tape, and the sixth tape, and the seventh tape, I said “This is my last one!”[laughs] But really, this thirteenth tape was going to be my last one.
Was the experience everything you thought it was going to be?
Betsy: And more. Absolutely. It was better than I thought it would be. Yes, I loved it.
Other than being voted out, what would you have changed?
Betsy: Hmm. What would I have changed? If I could, I hate to even say this, but I probably would have...I really hate to say this! [laughing] Oh, just to go along with Russell and smile and nod and say yes, I’m with you...and, ugh! But see, that would have killed me. I don’t think I could have done it.
You mean play along with his games?
Betsy: Right. It was too hard. I couldn’t even stand next to him.
I think last week Marisa said she would rather go out strong than go to the final four playing his game. Do you feel the same way?
Betsy: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. He’s that much of a snake.
Do you think things would have ended up differently for you had you started off on Galu without Russell around?
Betsy: Yes! Galu, with Shambo - how funny is she? [everyone laughs]
Is Shambo someone you wanted to work with?
Betsy: Yes, and Laura. Not that we’ve seen too much about Laura, but I have a feeling I would have connected with her. Yeah, it would have been a whole different ball game without Russell on my tribe. Bleah! But, it makes good tv!
Mike, got a question for you. You were supposed to be on Tocantins, weren’t you?
Mike: Yeah, I was there right up until they were loading on the truck to start the game and they pulled me at the last second.
Was it because of the same issues?
Mike: Actually, it was high blood pressure. Yeah, my blood pressure was like 170 over 90. I think that’s what Franklin Roosevelt’s was when he stroked out. And it was 110 degrees...
What did you say? When Roosevelt “stroked out?” [laughing]
Mike: Yeah, Franklin Roosevelt had a stroke, I think I read his blood pressure was 170 over 90. Just a little Jeopardy question. [laughing in background]
Anyway, the adrenaline was pumping, I was fifty pounds heavier, and they decided that everything was fixable. So they said to me, we’re gonna bump you, and I said “Do I have a choice?” and they said not really, and I said okay. And I thought yeah, right, I’m not coming back. But I went and I had an operation to fix sleep apnea, I lost fifty pounds, and the blood pressure went away. I got in better shape, and called up and said I wanna get back on and they said okay, you’re in.
This is for both of you. Were either of you standing around when Russell was up in that tree, looking for the idol?
Betsy: I think Mike and I were off looking for papaya.
Mike: Yeah, we went food hunting and we were out in the bush when that was going on.
Betsy: And you know, at that point I could care less what Russell was doing, and that could have cost me too, but...I didn’t care what he was doing at the time. And him just walking around, I wasn’t keeping my eye on him.
Why do you think people didn’t really clue in?
Betsy: Clue in on what a snake he was or that he found the idol?
That he was looking for the idol inside the tree.
Mike: Oh, he came out and said it! It’s like Betsy said, he was kinda being annoying and people kinda just...not dealing with him. You know, from what I saw.
What did everybody think when the canteens were emptied? Nobody thought to look at it more closely?
Betsy: Well, you know what...at that time, because it happened so quick into the game, our canteens, we didn’t mark them. People were just drinking out of whoever’s canteen, whatever canteen was full. So we just assumed that somebody - all of us - were drinking the water! Nobody figured out that “Oh, wait a minute...”
Mike: Yeah, we’d be like, is there any water? And someone would say yeah, there’s some in here, and we’d drink. And we didn’t realize.
Betsy: And after that, we marked our own canteens.
Mike: But we didn’t have them with us on our person at all times. We had our initials on them, but still, that didn’t prevent him from emptying them.
Do you think what he did was fair?
Mike: Fair? No. But it’s Survivor, it’s not $10,000 Pyramid, you know. It’s technically not a fair thing to do, but you’re trying to win the game.
Betsy: And plus that was his strategy, to kill the tribe off.
Mike: And it worked!
Betsy, why did you tell him you didn’t trust him? Why not keep it to yourself?
Betsy: Yeah, I know, you would have thought that I learned. That’s how much I despised Russell, it’s like I didn’t want anything to do with him, and I didn’t think he had that much power over the girls! I didn’t think he could control them as well as he did. And I didn’t - I did not like him, didn’t want to look at him, I didn’t want to be near him, and I just thought - you know what? But I did know that we’d have to talk to each other throughout the game, so that’s why I put it like, we can still talk to each other, but let’s agree that we don’t trust each other. And he said okay.
What was your relationship with the other girls like?
Betsy: Oh, I was definitely the outcast. Absolutely. It was very hard for me to...they banded together immediately, and I went more with Mike, Mick, and Marisa. They were doing the palm fronds thing, and they were always, always together. It’s just like a clique in high school, you try to get inside a clique and it’s hard.
Watching it on tv, what surprised you the most?
Betsy: Russell finding the idol, but it surprised me more that Jaison was with Russell, in cahoots with Russell. That Jaison seems to be trusting Russell. That surprises me, because Jaison has a good head on his shoulders and he’s a smart boy. Unless he’s playing Russell, which I’m hoping.
Mike: Um, I was surprised that Russell would even try to go after Jaison, as an alliance. I think Jaison might get outsmarted by this idiot, you know? I wasn’t too surprised that he found the idol, cause I knew he said “I’m looking for it.” I was surprised when I found out he was dumping the water, that really pissed me off when I saw that. I was like “Are you kidding me, man?” I think if anybody caught him he would have been out, if not dead.
What do you wish they would have shown on tv that they didn’t show?
Betsy: The heated Tribal Council. I loved how Jeff Probst handled Ben, because Ben was a loose cannon at Tribal Council. I wish that was shown. Schmergen Brawl, I wish that was shown more, cause it was such a great game. Loved it!
Why? [laughing]
Betsy: Why? Because it was so great! How could you not like that, you used everything, every muscle that you had! It was a great game to play, one you’ll never play again. Not like that. It was a once in a lifetime.
Mike: I wish that after last night’s game, I kinda felt that they made me look like the game got to me, and that I wasn’t really...I was getting more beat up than beating up people. I think I really beat up more people than it showed. It made everybody look like - even made little Russell look like he was playing hard. And they were! I was like a grizzly bear in a garbage dump, man, I was ripping...
Betsy: I think they showed that, Mike.
Mike: You do? I kinda felt a little differently. But maybe it’s just me, you know. You’re always harder on yourself.
Why do you think the others didn’t suspect Russell at all?
Mike: Well, he started in on talking to individuals as soon as we hit camp. As soon as we left the first challenge. He started laying the groundwork pretty early. And in the beginning, you really don’t know who’s who, who’s lying, who’s really a fireman and who’s a lawyer, who’s a doctor. He was well organized and had his game plan, and I think he spent nights, for months, working out in his head what he was going to do. He was very good at executing his plan. Again, we were all like, I didn’t know anybody, Betsy I took a liking to right away and we connected. Everybody else, I was like eh...I don’t know. But Russell got everybody snowed and then it was kinda too late.
Do you think his plan will actually work? It seems to be working so far...
Betsy: Exactly! I don’t understand what it’s gonna take to open up their eyes, but it’s got to take something. Hopefully in the next episode, because...I don’t know what it would take.
Mike: It’s hard to predict. Last night he was kinda laid back and Ben came out as an evil jerk. He’s doing good. He could go far or he could get clipped next week.
Do you think it would have been different if Mike had been there for Tribal Council? If he had been able to argue for Betsy?
Betsy: Yes, I think Mike would have definitely stuck up for me.
Mike: Without a doubt. I wouldn’t vote for Betsy until we were down to the final three.
Betsy: It was just me, telling the girls - look at Russell! And granted, I did vote for Ben, but I knew I had to get...Ben and Russell were tight. And I knew I couldn’t get anybody else to vote for Russell, you know, that’s why I went for Ben.
Mike: I think I would have been able to break up the vote, too. I was friendly with Ben, and Mick and Ashley. I think between the two of us we could have stirred it up and swayed some heads to make it a little more dicey than everybody just ganging up on Betsy.
Was Yasmin as offensive to you as she was to Russell and Ben?
Betsy: Oh, no, not to me. I just let that roll off my shoulder, I mean, it wasn’t a big deal to me. But they took huge offense to it. How about you, Mike?
Mike: I was gone by then.
Betsy: Oh. Cause look at Yasmin, she loves herself and she’s full of herself, and you just take it with a grain of salt. It wasn’t that big of a deal, at least not to me.
Do you think her edit was accurate?
Betsy: Yes! Absolutely.
Mike: You wanna know what my observation was? Actress. Actress! Big time actress. I’m ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille. [laughter] Really. She was waiting for the clap boards to go down, you know?
What was the hardest part of Survivor for you?
Mike: For me, it was underestimating the dehydration factor. Not drinking enough water. I should have remembered back from playing football in college, times when they always kept saying to drink, don’t get dehydrated, it’ll knock you out. That and the bathroom situation, not my cup of tea. When I get a garden view, I’m pissed off. I’d have given a thousand dollars for a roll of toilet paper. [laughter] I was not happy. In fact, in Brazil, I asked the doctor, when we’re out there, what do we do for toilet paper? She goes, oh, use a leaf. But be careful, don’t use this leaf, because it’ll kill you. Or your hand! And I said “What?!” “Yeah, well they do it in India.” Well, remind me not to go to India right now. And the leaf kills you? What a way to go! What happened? I wiped my ass and I died on Survivor. [everyone laughing] So, that was the big thing for me.
Betsy: For me, it was the sleeping, I hated it. Because you couldn’t sleep. And I love my sleep! And being left out, being left out of the circle. I hated that! You know, when they were talking about me, and I knew they were talking about me...I just felt so sad!
Mike: Aww, Betsy! I didn’t leave you out, baby!
Betsy: You didn’t, honey! [laughing]
And what was the easiest part?
Mike: You know, I didn’t find anything easy. To be honest with you. It was a thousand times harder than I imagined. From sleeping, eating, drinking, the bathroom, the challenges, being wet all the time, I didn’t find anything easy!
Were either of you hurt in last night’s schmergen brawl?
Betsy: I...bruised or cracked, I don’t know which, but it just healed maybe three weeks ago, two ribs. That was my injury.
Mike: And you know, I blew the engine. The first night there, in the game, I fell at night and separated my shoulder, I fell into a tree. So I still have that. The game knocked me out! [laughs]
Betsy: But it was great, it was worth it for me. It was worth it, I loved it.
Why were the younger women on board with the “voting out the weakest” strategy? Didn’t they understand that once Russell got rid of you, they were the next targets?
Mike: They didn’t think. I think they just didn’t think.
Betsy: Yeah. Russell, I’m telling you, had them under a spell. Exactly, Mike, I don’t think they thought that. Which I don’t get!
Why do you think Russell was able to hold such sway over the whole tribe?
Betsy: That’s the million dollar question!
Mike: Well, he attacked...he didn’t come at the tribe as a whole, he went to everybody individually. And started breaking down the whole fiber of the group. That was pretty smart, I gotta give him credit for that, he did do that. I mean, if he came out in front of everybody and did it as a group thing, it would have never worked. But doing it one by one, he was able to split up everything.
Betsy: Yeah, but it still frustrates me that I couldn’t get the girls to see that Russell’s a jerk.
Were the two of you aware that Mick was a doctor when you were out there?
Mike: Nah, he said he was an administration guy at the hospital.
Betsy: Yeah, he kind of danced around it. He told me he was in medical, but he didn’t...that’s as far as it went.
Mike: He said he placed doctors or something. He was the type of guy, you’d ask him a question, and he’d go like “mumble mumble.” What? He was a mumbler. [laughter]
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Originally Posted by Oceansands;3716383; 
