"Survivor: Second Chance" (CBS)
Kelley and Tasha weren’t the most memorable people on their previous seasons. You could argue that they weren’t even the 5th or 6th most memorable people on their season.
That’s why when they were given a Second Chance by the “Survivor” fandom, they swung for the fences. Their shots might have been caught at the warning track, but they were impressive nonetheless.
I spoke to the second and fourth place finishers the morning after the explosive finale and asked them about Jeremy’s pregnancy, Spencer’s loyalty, and proper voice retention methods…
Watch Full Episodes of “Survivor: Second Chance”
Gordon Holmes: Good morning.
Kelley Wentworth: Good morning. I kind of lost my voice, so I’m sorry.
Holmes: How dare you.
Wentworth: (Laughs) I know, I know, I sound like crap.
Holmes: Tasha, thank you for being a professional and managing to keep your voice.
Tasha Fox: (Laughs) I know. Especially after going to “The Price Is Right” on Monday where they made us scream the entire time.
Wentworth: This is crap, I sound like I smoked ten packs of cigarettes last night.
Holmes: Well, how many did you smoke?
Wentworth: I kept it to one. I’m totally joking, I don’t smoke. Please, I’m not a smoker, guys.
Holmes: Too late, it’s on record. You can’t trust those press people, they’re all scumbags.
Wentworth: (Laughs) I know all about it.
Holmes: Tasha, you get to final four and it’s been said that anyone who goes to the end with Jeremy is playing for second or third place. If Jeremy drops a ball, would you have booted him and tried your luck with Kelley?
Fox: I would’ve kept Jeremy. Kelley was a strong player and could have won the game as well. I would’ve kept Jeremy because he was my boy from day one and loyalty would have trumped everything in that situation. So, it’s the devil you know or the devil you don’t know.
Holmes: If they had voted for you instead and we ended up with a final three of Jeremy, Spencer, and Kelley, where would have your vote gone?
Fox: Definitely Jeremy. That’s a no-brainer. You can’t deny a man with a wife and a baby on the way.
Holmes: Kelley, you had an idol up until final six. Was there ever an opportunity to try to sway the numbers to your side beforehard using the idol as leverage?
Wentworth: When did I ever have the numbers in my favor, Gordon? C’mon. I was in danger, I was on the bottom for much of the game, I wasn’t going to play it until I had to.
Holmes: When I talked to Jeremy, he said that the big turning point was when you didn’t choose him, Tasha, or Spencer for the family reward. That seemed to cement that alliance.
Wentworth: That was a tough one. Looking back I should not have won that one. I knew leaving people back at camp was dangerous. And unfortunately I thought I was closer to Spencer than I was. So, when I got back I said, “I trusted you back here.” Clearly that was a mistake. But, watching it on television I saw exactly what went on and it doesn’t surprise me.
Fox: I talked to Spencer after the merge and we pretty much said depending on where the game goes from here, it’ll decide whether or not we can stick together. But after the merge Spencer was playing both sides. I think he had relationships with Kelley and her side and Jeremy and me. He was wavering back and forth since the merge. And it was the family visit that solidified that alliance. We were able to talk through the rest of the game.
Holmes: Kelley, I just spoke to Spencer. When we did the word association for you he said…
Wentworth: Oh boy…
Holmes: He said, “betrayed.” I asked him to elaborate and he said that he felt bad for betraying you.
Wentworth: Oh.
Holmes: And that was one of his biggest regrets in the game. What exactly happened to cause such animosity?
Wentworth: It’s tough, as Tasha said he was playing both sides. From day one, even on Ta Keo, he was the one person that I felt close to. Obviously that vote with Shirin did a little damage to our relationship, but after the merge he was working both sides. We had a lot of personal conversations about family. I don’t want to get into too many details about what we were talking about, but I didn’t think he’d be the kind of person to go to the other side.
Holmes: Kelley hung in at the bottom for a while. She played two idols at the right time. Tasha, how scared were you guys that she would get to the end?
Fox: We were definitely afraid of Wentworth. She was a formidable threat. Fortunately, there were expendable people whenever she had a necklace. She was a threat the entire game. The timing happened to work out. Spencer, Jeremy, and I were locked in, so if any one of us won, we knew what to do.
Holmes: Tasha, were you concerned that Kass was the first juror?
Fox: Yeah, I knew she was going to be a hater. And I know based on Ponderosa videos that Kass made me the topic of conversation every day, fifteen times a day. That’s what Savage said in Abi’s Ponderosa video.
Holmes: Kelley, what was your experience like on the jury? I’d imagine it was a quick turnaround.
Wentworth: I was only at Ponderosa for a short time. I was in a cloud, I was trying to process everything. I’d go by myself and watch movies. I saw people talking to people and people asked me what happened in the last days. When Jeremy said that thing about his son, anybody who was on the edge, that put them over.
Holmes: When Jeremy told everyone about the baby, a little part of me wondered if people thought he was pulling a Jonny Fairplay “Grandma” move. Did anyone on the jury have that feeling?
Wentworth: I don’t think anyone believes that Jeremy would lie about something like that. He was too emotional. And I knew based on how he won that last challenge that there’s no way he’d lie about that.
Holmes: The big theme of this season was Second Chances. And I’d kind of lump you two together as people who had potential the first time out, but you weren’t able to overcome being dealt a bad hand. What does it mean to get to show the fans that voted you in that they made a good choice?
Fox: For me, I started out on the Brains tribe that was quite the experience. I had my back against the wall the entire time. My Second Chance was about building the necessary relationships so nobody flips. I had to change my direction in the game when Angkor happened. I had to claw my way from the bottom to the top. I put on ten pounds before the game started so I didn’t look like a challenge threat. I knew that wasn’t the game I wanted to play. Being the competitor I was, I had to let that go. And after a while, my challenge activities dwindled because I was trying to play a social game. I let the physical part go.
Wentworth: For me personally, I didn’t make the merge. It is what it is. People were like, “Oh God, who is this girl?” I wanted to come out and prove myself and make big moves. That’s exactly what I did. As far as the fans believing in us and the entire cast? It’s so amazing. I can’t put into words what it’s like when people want to see you more.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: kelley wentworth, survivor, survivor cambodia, survivor second chance, tasha fox
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