'Survivor: San Juan del Sur' (CBS)
NOTE: XFINITY TV is the place to go for “Survivor: San Juan del Sur” coverage with “all the fixin’s.” We’ll have Power Rankings with “Cagayan” fave Spencer Bledsoe, every Wednesday evening we’ll bring you a recap of the most recent episode, and every Thursday you’ll be able to watch the previous night’s episode and read an interview with the eliminated contestant. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for immediate updates.
[xfinity-record-button id=”6034085997813089112″ program_type=”series”]
You’ve gotta love a player that goes down swinging.
Knowing that his head was next on the chopping block, Dale threw a Hail Mary pass in the form of a weird trinket he’d found on the water well. Was it an idol? Of course not. Did he convince Jon it was an idol? Surprisingly, yes.
Did Jon take the bait and keep Dale around? No.
Jon and company simply split the vote and sent Dale packing anyways.
I spoke to Dale the morning after his elimination and had a chance to ask about his clever ruse, his feud with Missy, and how the game affected his relationship with his daughter…
Gordon Holmes: Last night Jon told Jaclyn that he believed that the idol you showed him was real. When you were out there, did you think you had him hooked?
Dale Wentworth: I was hoping I did. I talked to Keith and I said, “I think the vote is going to be three for me and three for you and if I play my idol, you’re going home.” I was about 99% sure they were going to split the votes between us. I was hoping and praying, but I didn’t have a lot of chance of staying.
Holmes: Were you close with Keith?
Wentworth: No, Keith and Missy were…Keith was very tied to Missy. I couldn’t make any inroads with him whatsoever.
Holmes: Did you show anyone else your fake idol?
Wentworth: No, I just did it with Jon. I knew Jon was tight with Missy. We did have a conversation with Jon and Jaclyn and Keith and we agreed to vote for Missy. That was the last conversation we had before Tribal.
Holmes: Was there ever an opportunity to make peace with Missy or to work with her?
Wentworth: I didn’t get along with Missy because Baylor spoiled that one. And, Kelley and Missy didn’t get along much either. Kelley and I both brought a lot of baggage into that tribe swap. It was five-to-two from the start. We had a talk as soon as we got to the beach that there was going to have to be a miracle.
Holmes: What was the root of the problem with you and Baylor?
Wentworth: Baylor and I never hit it off. Within three or four hours of the game starting, I was walking with Baylor and said, “Look, are you interested in forming an alliance?” And she just looked at me and said, “I haven’t decided anything yet. But if I do, I’ll come talk to you.” And she walked away. She had no interest in talking to me. I don’t know what her problem was. And I never really targeted Baylor. There were times where I petitioned to keep her around for alliances and stuff.
Holmes: What was your relationship like with Josh before the swap?
Wentworth: We got along real good. We were talking on the first day. Wes, Rocker, and I…I had a lot of alliances going.
Holmes: I asked that because I can’t get a read on how Josh feels about Baylor. It seems like he’d throw votes her way that were unnecessary.
Wentworth: Josh is playing an interesting game. You usually try to build loyalty up pre-merge. You’ve got your two or three alliance guys…and you go into Tribal and you say you’re going to vote that way, then you vote that way…so they can count on you. Then if you can carry your alliance through the merge, you’ll have loyalty built up. Josh isn’t going into a merge with a lot of foundation with his people.
Holmes: You were the only person to vote with Rocker when he was blindsided. Were they able to patch things up with you afterwards or was it clear that you were the next to go?
Wentworth: We patched it up. But patching it up on “Survivor” is just words. John, I don’t know why he did it, but we’d just seen Val come in and say she had an idol and we voted her out. Then the next day, John goes to the same people and told them he had an idol. Well, what’s the first thing you’re going to do? You’re going to vote that idol out. If he’d not told people he had an idol, he probably wouldn’t have been voted out that night.
Holmes: One of the storylines has been that Hunahpu was beating Coyopa in challenges because they had been eating more. Last night Probst traded Hunahpu a bag of rice for their comfort items. As someone who was on the losing end of so many challenges, do you think that was a fair deal?
Wentworth: Knowing there was a food reward coming up the next day, I would’ve made them go 24 more hours without food.
Holmes: OK, word association time. We’ll start with Rocker.
Wentworth: Misguided.
Holmes: Jon?
Wentworth: He’s a nice guy.
Holmes: Jaclyn?
Wentworth: Very friendly. Interesting.
Holmes: Keith?
Wentworth: Whipped.
Holmes: Missy?
Wentworth: I said enough about her on the show. You can use those words. (Laughs)
Holmes: Baylor?
Wentworth: Spoiled and lazy.
Holmes: Josh?
Wentworth: A good guy.
Holmes: Alec?
Wentworth: Gullible.
Holmes: Wes?
Wentworth: Underrated. That challenge he did was just amazing.
Holmes: We’ll finish off with Kelley.
Wentworth: Very proud to have her as my daughter.
Holmes: Kelley and I talked last week and she seemed very happy with how “Survivor” helped your relationship. Do you second that emotion?
Wentworth: Oh yeah. It’ll be something Kelley and I can share for the rest of our lives. What it did for us is priceless.
Holmes: Is this a situation where you can brag about lasting longer in the game, or would that be a huge mistake?
Wentworth: We still have a point of contention about who got voted out and why. That’ll be one of our arguing points for a long time. So, I won’t brag about that too much. (Laughs)
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Watch Full Episodes of “Survivor: San Juan del Sur” on Your Computer
Tags: dale wentworth, jeff probst, survivor, survivor san juan del sur
More Whatnot 