'Survivor: Worlds Apart' (CBS)
NOTE: XFINITY.com is the place to be for all of your “Survivor: Worlds Apart” scoop! I delved deep into the Nicaraguan wilderness on a mission to bring you all kinds of stuff including behind-the-scenes tidbits, pre-game interviews with the cast, insights from “Survivor” host Jeff Probst and Challenge Producer John Kirhoffer, a look at the first Tribal Council, and much more. I’ll be cranking out this goodness daily in the weeks leading up to the premiere, so be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute updates on all of this season’s “Survivor” fun.
Name: Hali Ford
Age: 25
Current Residence: San Francisco, California
Occupation: Law Student
Gordon Holmes: Tell me about your inspiration Clara S. Foltz.
Hali Ford: She’s the first female public defender. She made it legal for a woman to become a lawyer in California. She fought for that. And, she has more balls than most men.
Holmes: Is that something you share with her?
Ford: Oh yeah, passion has gotten me everything I have.
Holmes: You’re trained in jiu jitsu…
Ford: I ride motorcycles, I surf, I…walk.
Holmes: (Laughs) I eat lightning, I crap thunder, I walk.
Ford: (Laughs)
Holmes: You are clearly someone who should not be messed with.
Ford: You should steer clear.
Holmes: What are your first impressions of Nicaragua?
Ford: It’s a lot drier than I thought which is excellent. I don’t want it to rain. But, it’s killing me because all I’ve done is watch that surf. I’ve been drooling over it. But I’m ready to tear this land up and eat anything that crawls.
Holmes: Your intention is to build some kind of rudimentary surf board?
Ford: That’d be great, but I’d imagine I need to conserve my energy. So, I probably won’t.
Holmes: Pet peeves…wastes of time and resources…
Ford: Yes.
Holmes: Mediocrity…apathy…
Ford: Yes.
Holmes: You might run into some of that in the next 39 days.
Ford: And they’re going to get the boot.
Holmes: That’s the plan?
Ford: The boot.
Holmes: Someone gets in your way…
Ford: The boot…unless we need some stragglers for numbers. We’ll drag them along and feed them. But, they’ll be the outcasts.
Holmes: Are you a “Survivor” fan.
Ford: Yes, I am.
Holmes: For how long?
Ford: I started watching the show when I was nine. Then I took a reprieve and then I came back in in my twenties.
Holmes: You make me feel old.
Ford: (Laughs) One of the girls here started watching when she was three.
Holmes: How do you know that?
Ford: Cause she told me.
Holmes: How were you talking?
Ford: Not one of the girls on the show. One of the crew.
Holmes: Oh…that was almost scandalous.
Holmes: How do you feel about lying?
Ford: I anticipate I will have to. If I don’t need to, I won’t. It’s part of the game.
Holmes: Do you consider yourself a good liar?
Ford: I’m a notoriously good liar. There’s this game we play back home called, “Mafia” and nobody will play it with me because you have to lie. I win every time.
Holmes: How does Mafia work?
Ford: You’re assigned an identity. Usually two people are the Mafia, everyone else is a townsperson. There’s also a detective and an angel. There’s a narrator that says, “Town go to sleep.” And everyone goes to sleep. The Mafia wakes up, they make eye contact, then they point to someone to kill. When everyone wakes up, you talk to try to figure out who the Mafia is. The Mafia just has to lie and put it off on other people. I win every time.
Holmes: You’re an attractive young woman.
Ford: Thank you.
Holmes: Flirting is a tool people use to get ahead. Is that something you can see yourself doing?
Ford: Yeah. It’ll be part of my strategy if it needs to be. I’d rather keep this straight business. But, flirting may become my business.
Holmes: Any experience living in the outdoors?
Ford: Oh yeah. I hiked for two weeks in the Bolivian Andes. That was pretty rough. But, in general I’ve been growing up basically in the woods in Tennessee. Camping out every summer, summer camp…I also lived in Kauai and practically lived outside the whole year.
Holmes: If there is a twist, what do you think it’ll be?
Ford: Maybe they’re bring back Redemption Island. I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t know.
Holmes: Do you think that’s an environment you’d do well in?
Ford: Oh yeah, I’m used to being the underdog. If I get voted out I’d love to be redeemed back on. But, I’m not trying to jinx myself.
Holmes: Too late.
Holmes: Why do you think you were cast?
Ford: Because I’m weird.
Holmes: Yeah, you’re so weird.
Ford: (Laughs) Because it looks like I’m one thing, but I’m many different surprising things.
Holmes: What do people think you are?
Ford: Well, at first they probably think I’m a sweet, pretty southern girl. Then they hear that I’m a lawyer and they think, “Oh, this girl is a bitch.” And then they get to know me and they think, “This girl is a laid-back dude.”
Holmes: Hali Ford, laid-back dude.
Ford: (Laughs) Yeah.
Holmes: You gave the worst answer for “which ‘Survivor’ are you like.” You said Parvati…
Ford: Wait, I want to give another answer; Natalie.
Holmes: From Samoa?
Ford: No, from Fans vs. Favorites.
Holmes: Oh, Natalie Bolton. I like her because she embraced the bad-guy role.
Ford: I’m not saying I’m going to be a bad guy, but I liked the way she played.
Holmes: Alright, well I’d like to know which past Survivor you’d like to align with.
Ford: I’d like to align with Malcolm. He’s a solid dude, trustworthy, and someone that I’d like on a personal level. That’s what I’d want. I have my eye on someone like that already.
Holmes: Who’s that?
Ford: It’s the tall blonde dude. He’s really tall and muscular. He’s more quiet and stoic.
Holmes: What do you think of the rest of the cast?
Ford: We have a lot of personality on this cast. We have some snakes and some charmers. A lot of fun-loving people I think.
Holmes: Anyone else you’re thinking of working with?
Ford: The tall, blonde guy is my number one. There’s also a shorter, blonde haired girl who’s a lot of fun. She has a tree tattoo under her arm. I like her.
Holmes: Anyone you think is going to be trouble?
Ford: Well, there’s this guy with slicked-back black hair. He just looks like trouble. Mr. Casanova. I’m also watching…if my money wasn’t on me, it’d be on this blonde older lady. She’s not old, she’s a beautiful middle-aged woman.
Holmes: What is it about her that sticks out?
Ford: She’s older, so she’s wiser. But she also has cool vibes. She’s going to be able to get in with the young people. And she’s smart, I can see it in her eyes.
Holmes: Alright, let’s talk about how well you deal with some things you’re going to experience in the next few days. Sun and heat?
Ford: Get in the ocean, put on sunscreen.
Holmes: Starvation?
Ford: I will catch some animals and eat them.
Holmes: Piece of cake.
Ford: I’m going to build fish traps. Crabs will be a staple. I know how to set snares even though we can’t eat the monkeys, which was a major let down.
Holmes: You were excited to eat some monkeys “Temple of Doom” style?
Ford: There’s a lot of meat on them.
Holmes: Ugh…
Ford: I spent a lot of time on my monkey snares.
Holmes: All that time wasted on monkey recipes.
Ford: Yeah!
Holmes: But what are you like when you don’t eat? Normally I’m a jerk. But when I don’t eat that goes to a higher level.
Ford: I’m the same way. I’m going to have to keep an eye on that.
Holmes: How do you deal with people you don’t trust?
Ford: I’m going to get as close to them as I can. I want them to love me.
Holmes: What about paranoia?
Ford: You have a plan. Plans soothe me. As soon as I see a problem I’m going to strategize around it.
Don’t miss the 90-minute premiere of “Survivor: Worlds Apart” on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at 8 pm ET on CBS.
Tags: hali ford, jeff probst, survivor, survivor worlds apart
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