Sydney Wheeler wasn’t shown doing a whole lot on “Survivor.” She flirted, she cuddled, and she followed the leader. But what did we miss out on?
We had a chance to talk to Sydney the day after her dismissal to get her thoughts on what the editors didn’t show, her secret strategies, and flying ceramic pigs.
Gordon Holmes: Now, which show were you on?
Sydney Wheeler: (Laughs) “Survivor.”
Gordon: I used to watch that show. I stopped though.
Sydney: Oh no…
Gordon: Cause they keep voting off all of the pretty ladies!
Sydney: (Laughs) Yeah, now that Candace is gone!
Gordon: So what happened last night, were you blindsided?
Sydney: You know, I wasn’t. But, I didn’t want to go. I kind of knew it was coming. Taj was hugging me and making me feel like it was my time to go. But, I pulled JT aside and just asked him straight up what was going on, and he told me it was between me and Taj, and Taj has more of a pull when it comes to a merge. So, I kind of knew it was coming.
Gordon: Was it brought up at all that Joe’s fake hidden immunity idol could go to you.
Sydney: No, that was never brought to my attention, but it would have been pretty good if it was.
Gordon: Now Joe mentioned last night that he wanted to keep you around because he had a little thing for you, but did he know you had a boyfriend?
Sydney: Yeah, the first night we got together we all hung out, and it was all brought up, marital status and all. But he and I got along really well, we had a really good connection. He was like my big brother more than a boyfriend.
Gordon: So it wasn’t a show-mance, it was just edited that way.
Sydney: Right, he wasn’t my “Survivor” boyfriend.
Gordon: When you came back did you tell your boyfriend about the salsa dream and how important that was to you.
Sydney: (Laughs) Yes, I told him, I even wrote in my journal the whole time about how much I missed him.
Gordon: I don’t know much about dream interpretation, but I’d assume salsa’s got to be pretty serious.
Sydney: It’s spicy. And I like my salsa spicy. So that’s a good thing.
Gordon: I’d also assume any dream you have out there is going to be about food. He should feel lucky to be included.
Gordon: Did you know Taj had the hidden immunity idol?
Sydney: No, I didn’t. And I never would have dreamed she did. She was playing such a low-key game. She played like everyone was against her, and she didn’t have any allies. I tried to be honest with her, but I think it was me trusting people too much.
Gordon: Did you have any kind of clue about the cross-tribe alliance?
Sydney: No, that was a great idea, right? It’s such a smart idea. Taj is a smart whip.
Gordon: I felt like your edit focused on your looks, and even I made a joke about that earlier, but what kind of strategy were you employing that we didn’t see?
Sydney: It’s so frustrating, they really honed in on me being someone who’d use her looks to get ahead. Going into it, I knew I could maybe use it, but my strategy was to make an alliance from the very beginning. Like when me and Spencer and Joe, I saw that Spencer and Joe were the big guys, like alpha males. At least Joe was. So, that was my strategy to get into an alliance early. But, I didn’t know too much about the game, so I was kind of going at it from a different point of view. I wanted to stay below the radar.
Gordon: Now we missed a couple of weeks because of the NCAA tournament.
Sydney: Yeah.
Gordon: And who cares about basketball when there is “Survivor” to be watched?
Sydney: (Laughs) Yeah, but it got me further, didn’t it?
Gordon: True, but the athletic highlight of the past few weeks has to have been a certain girl catching ceramic pigs that are flying by at 100 miles per hour.
Sydney: (Laughs) Oh my God! JT was throwing those things so hard. And the first few I didn’t catch because it’s a learning experience. And, ceramic pigs that are heavy and awkward with tails and noses that would cut up my hands? I think I still have a scar from one of the pigs. It was a fun challenge, I think I pulled through for my team.
Gordon: Years from now you can point to that scar and say, “See this? Ceramic pig.”
Sydney: It’s funny because pigs are my favorite animal. So, it was my challenge going into it.
Gordon: So it probably broke your heart to see those little guys get shattered.
Sydney: (Laughs) It was also kind of odd that it was pigs, is that a Brazilian thing?
Gordon: I think they were playing with your emotions.
Sydney: They knew!
Gordon: OK, word association time. I’ll give you a tribe member, you say the first thing that comes to mind. JT?
Sydney: Country folk, great guy but a little bit manipulative. He’s got those big eyes he can bat and get whatever he wants.
Gordon: Joe?
Sydney: Spoiled, genuine, great guy. Has a lot of talent.
Gordon: Taj?
Sydney: Sweet woman, loves her family, she definitely played the game harder than I thought she would’ve.
Gordon: Did you know she was part of SWV?
Sydney: I didn’t until day seventeen. It came out very late in the game. It was like, “What? I love that song!”
Gordon: You’re old enough to know SWV?
Sydney: Yeah! (starts singing) I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak…
Gordon: OK, back to my list. You’re distracting me. Sandy?
Sydney: There’s a lot I can say about Sandy. Crazy is the key word. I think she may be on prescription drugs. She’s kindhearted and she means well.
Gordon: Stephen?
Sydney: Goofy…clumsy, he looks like the guy from “Ratatouille.”
Gordon: He does.
Sydney: He’s a little lair, too!
Gordon: I love the game he’s playing.
Sydney: I love Stephen.
Gordon: I know Coach wasn’t on your tribe, but what do you think of him?
Sydney: Oh, who doesn’t like Coach? He’s full of himself, that’s everything that everyone has ever said about Coach, except for Jeff Probst, he loves Coach.
Gordon: I love Coach.
Sydney: And Gordon. But I don’t want to judge him before I meet him.
Gordon: What do you take from your time in Brazil?
Sydney: I met some interesting people. I’ve met past Survivors. I’ve made friends, and I have the bad memories of my time on the show.
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