Thousands of people send videos to CBS casting every year in the hopes of being invited to play “Survivor.” At best, only 40 people a year will get to live that dream. So, you can imagine how frustrated fans can be when someone gets out there quits.
What could frustrate them more? Two people quitting in the same night.
That exact situation happened last night when NaOnka Mixon and “Purple” Kelly Shinn both threw in the towel after 28 days in the wilderness. I spoke with both of the castaways the following morning to discuss how unforgiving the environment really was, why NaOnka didn’t forfeit her reward, and how they were treated by the other jury members after their exit.
Gordon Holmes: NaOnka, I think there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that you were this season’s villain. However, some people who get slapped with the “Villain” tag will blame it on an unfavorable edit. Do you think you were portrayed fairly?
NaOnka Mixon: (Laughs) Seeing how I played the game, I think I was portrayed pretty fair. Pretty fair. I was a (expletive deleted). I had no certain way of how I was going to play the game, I had no idea that I was going to be such a (expletive deleted). I’m not like that in real life, but I think it was pretty fair.
Gordon: I was shocked, because I thought you were delightful when we met in Nicaragua.
NaOnka: Aww…
Kelly Shinn: Uh…you were wrong. (Laughs)
NaOnka: (Laughs)
Gordon: Alright Kelly, I’m not going to be like the “Survivor” editors, I’m actually going to spend some time with you.
Kelly: You know, I’ve already had more air time with this interview than I had on the show!
Gordon: Well then do us a favor, let us know what you were actually doing during your 28 days on the show.
Kelly: Gosh, I was doing what everyone else was doing. I was secretly conniving with people in my alliance. I was starving, I was enjoying my one seashell of rice a day. They didn’t show anything. There was time I’d go fishing with Jane. I’d do all the things around camp, I’d collect firewood, try to keep the fire going. I’d go collect crabs. I got very good at crab hunting, but nobody would ever know that.
Gordon: Now NaOnka, you’re a P.E. teacher in your regular life. Has your appearance on “Survivor” affected your career at all?
NaOnka: This might upset a lot of people, but…nope! It sure has not. Actually, I’ve been getting requests to do more schools.
Gordon: Really?
NaOnka: And it’s pretty ironic because I thought it was going to hit me really hard. The only thing that was weird was that somehow my place of work hit the Internet. The location, the address, everything. So, I started getting a lot of hate mail at my job. They started emailing my boss. People were actually coming to my job. It was crazy. I needed security to start walking me to my car. I think people need to understand that this is a game, this is not real life. The way we play this game has nothing to do with our lives, we were trying to survive in Nicaragua.
Gordon: Kelly, both of you cited the weather as the main reason for quitting the game. Could you help me understand how hard it is to live under those conditions?
Kelly: Gosh, endless nights without being dry. There was one point I don’t think my hair was dry for two weeks. It was just constantly wet. It was just impossible. It was so windy. And having just a little bit of rice a day, just a little tablespoon of rice, really gets to you. It sounds so easy to say, but when you’re stuck in the rain and there are constant drips, I think it could really make someone go crazy. You get dizzy, you’re blacking out. I ended up getting parasites. And that is what people don’t understand. There is way more to it than what you see on television. And I would say that if anyone is offended, they need to spend a few nights in the rain. And put them in a little yellow dress!
Gordon: I don’t know how good I’d look in a yellow dress. But it is easy to make those kinds of comments from my couch.
NaOnka: (Laughs) Sandals too, you’ve got to throw that in there too.
Gordon: NaOnka, after last night’s reward challenge, you were given the opportunity to trade your reward for a tarp and rice for the camp. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t sacrifice that for your friends Chase and Holly when you were leaving the game that night anyways.
NaOnka: I had already made up my mind that I was going home. And my team just won, so I’m going to eat, grub with some people that I really enjoy. I gave my idol to Chase, and now I can party. Holly stepped down, I thought that was a good strategic move for her. I was officially out of the game at this point, so I don’t care who’s going to be eating, what they’re going to be sleeping underneath. I did not care. So, I think that it was brilliant of me. Why should I step down if I’m already going to lose the game?
Gordon: But you were going to eat later that night anyways, you could’ve let Holly go on the reward.
NaOnka: I wish they would have shown more of Mama Holly, because that’s just the type of (expletive deleted) that she would do. But at that point, her giving me the eye, like that (expletive deleted) is (expletive deleted) up. I didn’t care what nobody thought. I’ve already checked out. I was just being NaOnka. I’m never going to change. And if I’m going to leave the game, I’m going to leave the game with a win. I do not regret doing that. I left with popcorn, candy, and a hot dog.
Gordon: And the movie (“Gulliver’s Travels”) was good?
NaOnka: The movie was excellente!
Gordon: Kelly, a lot of fans, a lot of our commenters, even former “Survivor” players have said that quitters shouldn’t be allowed to be a part of the jury, quitters shouldn’t be allowed to attend the reunion, and quitters should have to forfeit any prize money. How do you respond to that?
Kelly: You know, it’s hard to say that, but a lot of the people saying those things are people who haven’t gone through what we went through.
Gordon: Even former Survivors?
Kelly: Oh, they are?
NaOnka: I want to step in on that.
Gordon: Go ahead.
NaOnka: Because I have met some former Survivors and I think they’re awesome, I think they’re great, but if they’re not winners, then they’re just like the people that we competed against. They know how the elements are, they know how hard the game is. And a lot of Survivors are still bitter about their season. Well Purple Kelly and I made it pretty damn far. So the people who say that are just bitter. And you still haven’t said who said that.
Gordon: I’m sorry. I saw it from a few people, but off the top of my head I know Eliza Orlins said it over Twitter.
NaOnka: Did she win?
Gordon: No, but she did last 37 days in “Survivor: Vanuatu.”
NaOnka: See, there’s my point. So, if you didn’t win, there’s nothing that you can say that can hurt Purple Kelly and I. Because this (expletive deleted) is hard, and you have to really dig deep. You can dig so deep that there is nothing left. So, if you did not win and last those 39 days you ain’t gotta tell us (expletive deleted) because we played hard.
Kelly: I think what’s most important to me is I talked to a lot of people on the Nicaragua season, and they know what I went through, and they support me.
Gordon: NaOnka, last night you said you could have won. Who could you have beaten in the finals?
Kelly: She would’ve gone with me, and I would’ve won the million dollars.
NaOnka: (Laughs) I think Purple Kelly was a threat. But I would’ve just run with whoever lasted. It wouldn’t have mattered who would’ve been there, it would have been all about my speech.
Gordon: What was the reaction when you arrived at Ponderosa (where eliminated jury members wait between Tribal Councils) from the other jury members?
NaOnka: Well, of course dramatic Alina, she was a ghost. She disappeared on us. Marty and Brenda, although they were pissed, they still stood there and greeted us. Purple Kelly and me didn’t get along with Alina on the island because she was part of the other alliance. I played her like a flute.
Gordon: A gym teacher can play a flute?
NaOnka: (Laughs) I played her like a flute!
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