Artis Silvester and Jeff Probst (CBS)
XFinityTV is blowing up their coverage of “Survivor: Philippines.” Every Monday Jeff Probst and I will tackle a wide variety of topics with the “Survivor” Question of the Week. Every Tuesday I’ll be squaring off against “Survivor: One World” favorite Kat Edorsson in this season’s Power Rankings challenge. Every Wednesday briefly after the show we’ll have a full episode recap and every Thursday we’ll have an interview with the latest eliminated player. Follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for all the updates!
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I figured I’d be speaking to Jonathan “Normal” Penner this morning. It seemed like a done deal that Tandang would stick together and start picking of the remnants of Matsing and Kalabaw.
I didn’t see it coming. But, Artis did.
I spoke with the Artis Silvester the morning after his elimination to get his thoughts on his alliance with Abi and Pete, how he knew his number was up, and the player that he has a personal problem with…
Gordon Holmes: You tweeted a couple of minutes ago that your whole story wasn’t out there. Well, here’s your chance; what’s the whole story?
Artis Silvester: (Laughs) What I meant by that is my alignment with Pete was a genuine one. The fact that Abi was there probably aided the public perception of me being this horrible, angry person. When I actually had the time of my life.
Holmes: That leads nicely into my next question. You seemed like a delightful fellow in the pre-game interview. What I saw on TV was much different. When I talked to RC she said she wasn’t a fan of Artis in the game, but Artis in real life is a good guy.
Silvester: (Laughs)
Holmes: So, was your portrayal accurate?
Silvester: Well…yes. But in the game things happen. People start doing things. From a physical and a mental standpoint, I knew what I was getting in to. I was prepared to go days without eating and days without sleeping. I was ready for the backstabbing. The problem I had is that we didn’t have to do any of that this season. We really didn’t. A lot of the going off and talking, a lot of the early gameplay was absolutely unnecessary for our tribe. We should have had a vacation all the way through to the merge. But, in order for that to happen we had to stop playing so early. And that was drawing lines in the sand. We were dividing ourselves early and there was no need for that.
Holmes: One of the “Survivor” 101 rules is to keep the people in the bottom of your alliance happy so they won’t flip. But, when Tandang was dominating the early challenges, you guys were still ostracizing RC and Skupin.
Silvester: Let me clear something up. I did not like Abi. Abi was this baggage that I had to take in my alliance with Pete. The problem is when you get in a situation like that and people see people going off and talking, playing the game that early, you pretty much draw a line in the sand. I didn’t go out and make an alliance with anyone. I got approached by the alliance that I was in. At no point in time did I think that our tribe should have been dissolved, even with my distaste for one of the numbers.
Holmes: I thought Penner was a goner last night. Were you as shocked as I was?
Silvester: No. That’s the biggest thing, I was never blindsided. I had ran the scenario that night and prior to Tribal Council. I said to myself, “The logical thing is, they’d gone after Pete twice, and now they’re going to come after me.” There was only one person that I had to convince to stay with me, that would ensure me advancement. There was only way I was going home.
Holmes: So, when you were making the long walk, you knew it was Skupin.
Silvester: When the names started coming up I was looking for that one vote in that one handwriting. And if you watch it, at that point in time that’s where I put my head down and I knew I didn’t do a good enough job in convincing that person to stay with me. But no, I was not blindsided.
Holmes: Let’s get into some word association. We’ll start with Pete.
Silvester: Frat brat. (Laughs)
Holmes: Abi?
Silvester: Abi is unbelievably crazy.
Holmes: Penner?
Silvester: Brilliant.
Holmes: Carter?
Silvester: Gullible.
Holmes: Denise?
Silvester: Fantastic. I love Denise.
Holmes: Malcolm?
Silvester: (Laughs) Smart, got a good game…likable.
Holmes: Lisa?
Silvester: I like Lisa. Lisa wants to be…how can I put this…she’s very persuadable because she’s a fan of the game and she wants to play the game. But, she listens to too many people.
Holmes: Let’s finish with Skupin.
Silvester: Oh my goodness. I’m not going to comment on that one.
Holmes: That’s not how this works.
Silvester: (Laughs) Ohhhh…I want to comment on that one. I have a problem with Mike and it’s a personal vendetta and Mike knows what he did. I do not like to talk about people behind their back. I have a very personal problem with Mike. I’m amazed with how he’s proceeded.
Holmes: Normally when two people have issues in this game, it’s specifically about the game. How is this different? Is it deeper?
Silvester: Yes, yes it is. I can understand anybody’s gameplay. Gameplay is fine. But, when you start dealing with things on a personal level. Like I don’t like you on a personal level, I’m not going to candy coat it and hide it. I’ll confront you about it in case I was wrong, and in this instance, I was not wrong.
Holmes: I find that surprising. I’ve spoken with Skupin on several occasions and he’s always had a reputation for being a likable guy.
Silvester: That’s all it is is a reputation.
Holmes: So, what did he do that rubbed you the wrong way?
Silvester: Actually, I can’t comment on that.
Holmes: Fair enough. The mind races…
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: artis silvester, jeff probst, jonathan penner, Lisa Whelchel, michael skupin, survivor, survivor philippines
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