"Survivor: Worlds Apart" (CBS)
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I’ll admit it, I didn’t expect much from Will this season. With his polite demeanor and his lack of “Survivor” knowledge, I thought he’d be “Worlds Apart’s” Edna Ma.
Last night Vince got a rude awakening when Will proved me very wrong.
I spoke with the man who coined the term “Body Karate” the morning after his elimination and asked him about his shocking blindside, his relationship with Jenn, and his competition with Joe…
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Gordon Holmes: I heard there was some issue with the pregame interview. If I misheard you, I want to make sure we set the record straight.
Vince Sly: The only thing that was a little wacky was the description of the coconut, it’s a portable, spherical oasis. The “spiritual” oasis seemed like it was playing excessively into the character.
Holmes: Gotcha. I’ll make sure that gets updated in the pregame interview.
Holmes: Last night at Tribal…it took me a while to figure out what happened.
Sly: I’m going to give you a new perspective. Going into it, it was going to be a split between Joe, Jenn, and Hali and Will, Nina, and I. It felt that way all the way up until just before Tribal. On day two I set into action things like, “Hey, I think Nina is really searching for an idol.” Day three, “She’s out there a lot and nobody’s talking to her. “ On day four I said, “I’m pretty sure she found the idol.” Day five, “She’s definitely found the idol, she just showed it to me and it’s in her bag,” so they would split the vote. The only way to break up three out of six so it’s not a tie is to get them to split the vote. The only way to get them to split the vote is if someone has an idol.
Holmes: Nice. All that work seems like it was tossed out the window when Nina let Will know that you were concerned about his challenge abilities.
Sly: I put all of this work into it. And who knows if it was Nina’s comment that broke the camel’s back or if it was a series of events. Maybe it was my own behavior. The game of “Survivor”…it’s sometimes captured in moments. The changes are contingent upon something so small. It’s a single comment, it’s how you move your body. This comment happened to be pretty big because I’m fairly sure that Joe, Jenn, and Hali realized that I was gunning for one of them. They’re going to try to convince Will that I want him out. So, maybe he was primed and ready for what Nina said.
Holmes: It feels like Will went from being in a solid three to being the fourth man on the totem pole.
Sly: I put a lot of work in with Will and there was no other way to vote from our perspective. It was like, once we do this and get one of them out, we have complete control. Keep the two strongest of them in the game so in challenges we’re good to go. And we’ve already broken them up, so we’re in control. It didn’t make any sense to go any other way. I think that that comment, unfortunately shattered his confidence in me.
Holmes: When I visited your camp on day two, you and Hali were in the woods and she apologized for the past crazy 48 hours. And, she specifically referenced a “Nina thing.” Do you remember what she was talking about?
Sly: I can’t really remember…the experience kind of blends together. But, I feel like they didn’t show any conversations between Hali and I. Hali and I were developing a deep connection. She was kind of…an innocent bystander. She was part of the alliance with Jenn and Joe. She was connected with Jenn from the very beginning, but I don’t feel like she was a strong strategist. She has a really good social game. She’s pleasant, she’s pretty. But, those first couple of conversations we had were relating that she’s not a hardcore gamer and she doesn’t know who to trust. She doesn’t know what’s going on. In relation to Nina, I feel like she wasn’t purposefully being mean to Nina, whereas some of the comments…I wouldn’t say Jenn was purposefully being mean to Nina, but Jenn is younger. I’m not going to talk poorly about anybody. I chose not to do that on the show. These are humans who are just like me going crazy with no sleep and no food. And you have weird reactions. Were some of the reactions more juvenile than I would have hoped for? Absolutely. Did I play that to my advantage? 100%.
Holmes: It seemed like your relationship with Jenn went south when she started buddying up with Joe. Was that accurate?
Sly: It’s not because I had a crush on her or because I was jealous of Joe. What they chose to portray, from my perspective, was highly inaccurate of my character and what happened out there. What really went down was she developed a more natural connection with Joe. Right off the bat she and I were quirky and fun, and we had a willingness to express ourselves where everyone else was more reserved. I felt that initial connection. She’s the first person I had a whole conversation with. She was the only person I could tell right away was a game player. When she developed that connection to Joe…I’m not going to say she has a crazy crush on Joe, but she likes Joe, I noticed that. I noticed that was going to shift power away from me in a way that’s not going to benefit me.
Holmes: How do you feel about the term “No Collar.”
Sly: I feel like No Collar represents those who are governed by their own desires. They’re motivated, instead of by money, but that which will bring them the most amount of happiness. I feel like another aspect of No Collars is those who’ve been able to make their own careers. If it’s a jewelry designer, it’s someone who has a little jewelry empire. The most successful No Collar is probably Steve Jobs. He made one of the biggest companies in the world and he was a college dropout. That to me is No Collar. Someone who has a dream, a vision, a quest and they go for it.
Holmes: Do you believe Jeff Probst is a No Collar?
Sly: I don’t know Jeff that well, but from what I can tell? Yeah. I don’t know his history, but he’s the host and executive producer of one of the greatest TV shows ever made. He loves it. You can see that he hasn’t lost his absolute glee and appreciation for the game.
Holmes: Alright, word association time…
Sly: Oh boy…
Holmes: I know. Let’s start with Nina.
Sly: Kind…subtle…(laughs).
Holmes: There are no wrong answers here.
Sly: Word association is hard. There are things that come up like, “insecure.” Nina is insecure, however I don’t need to talk crap about people who in the real world I really care about. In the game Nina was insecure, that’s obvious.
Holmes: Well, it doesn’t have to be negative. And I call it word association, but use all the words you need.
Sly: The gameplay characters? I wanted to (expletive deleted) tear Joe’s head off in the (expletive deleted) game. But in real life he’s like my little brother. I want to take him to festivals and introduce him to a world where people embrace each other and truly accept each other for what they are. In game vs. out game? Are you asking about their characters in general?
Holmes: The first thing that pops into your head when you hear their name.
Sly: OK. Nina shines joy through her smile.
Holmes: Jenn?
Sly: Quirky, whimsical, doesn’t give a (expletive deleted).
Holmes: Hali?
Sly: Cute, has a mysterious depth that she only shares with those who get really close.
Holmes: Joe?
Sly: Fun, playful, talented, and immature.
Holmes: We’ll finish off with Will.
Sly: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) WILL!
Holmes: (Laughs)
Sly: I’m just kidding. (Laughs) Will is a devoted, charismatic, family man.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: survivor, survivor worlds apart, vince sly
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