Posts Tagged ‘laura morett’

‘Survivor’ Castaways Laura & Hayden: ‘It’s Not Redemption Island, It’s Laura’s Island’

December 20, 2013

Hayden Moss and Laura Morett (CBS)

Quick Note: Thank you for joining us for our “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” coverage. Follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news on February’s “Survivor: Cagayan.”

You know why I love “Survivor”? Because if you showed someone a picture of Hayden Moss and Laura Morett and said, “One of these two is great at challenges, and the other has a really amazing social game,” most people would guess wrong as to which was which.

I spoke with the two Redemption Islanders who found no Redemption the morning after the “Blood vs. Water” finale and had a chance to ask them about Ciera’s shocking vote, Hayden’s amazing scrambles, and why “Survivor” is head and shoulders above “Big Brother”…

Gordon Holmes: Laura, is Ciera out of the will?
Laura Morett: (Laughs) No, are you kidding me? That child has done worse things to me in her life than vote me off.
Holmes: Yeah, but that’s the worst thing she’s done in front of a national audience.
Morett: That’s true. But, there’s nothing that girl could do to get voted out of my will.

Watch Every Episode of “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” Online

Holmes: Hayden, you had a hell of a run at the end there. I was crazy impressed with the way you got Ciera to flip and almost got Monica to flip. I spoke with Monica, she said she was pretty solid with the Bandits, but do you think she was leaning even a little?
Hayden Moss: That last Tribal, I thought we were really close. I thought we had a real shot at it. But, for whatever reason she decided to stick to her alliance. I would say I thought there was like a 33% chance.
Holmes: And was the scariest moment of your life the second where you realized you’d have to face Laura at Redemption Island?
Morett: (Laughs)
Moss: (Laughs) It’s not Redemption Island, it’s Laura’s Island. When I saw the challenge I knew I had a chance, but Laura and Tina crushed it.
Morett: It was that darn drop of sweat that came down Hayden’s face. It got in his eyes and if you get distracted for one second, that’s it. And I think it was like 120 degrees that day. He was not moving. I could see him and Tina out of my peripheral vision and they were solid. I was so shocked when his vase fell.
Moss: It was one of those things that’s super unfortunate. Literally one drop of sweat got in my eye, I went to wipe it and I lost my balance.

Holmes: Now that you’ve played “Survivor” and “Big Brother,” are you prepared to say that “Survivor” is way better?
Moss: (Laughs) I am…no…not prepared to say that. I love “Survivor” and I love “Big Brother.” Clearly “Big Brother” is my roots, and “Survivor” was amazing. The experience was unreal. But I love both shows.
Holmes: Laura, you’re prepared to say “Survivor” is way better, right?
Morett: Absolutely. “Survivor” is way better. On “Big Brother” you’re in a bed, you have a refrigerator full of food. But, you do have to stay there 90 days.
Moss: It’s apples and oranges, two totally different games. “Survivor” physically is way harder, I don’t know if that makes it better.
Holmes: It’s like comparing amazing, outdoor apples to not-as-good, indoor oranges.

Holmes: When Ciera voted the woman who brought her into this world out of the game, you said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” Did you not get that that was the opposite of what Ciera wanted?
Morett: (Laughs) It’s really funny watching it back now, she must’ve been like, “Stop saying that!” I’m thinking my daughter needs me and she’s like, “Woman, you are ruining my game for me!” That conversation on the beach was by far the hardest day. It was a strict heart-to-heart and her saying, “This is where your game sucks” and me saying “This is where your game sucks.” It was hard as a competitor to hear my name brought up. And then to hear it from my daughter? I didn’t feel betrayed so much as it was panic of how do I get back into the game. But, I was so proud of her.
Holmes: Hayden, on the other side of that vote, when you see Ciera make that move are you thinking, “Sweet, she’s on our side” or “Oh crap, this girl came to play”?
Moss: It’s like, she’s a gamer. If she’s willing to vote out her own mother, she won’t bat an eyelash to vote me out. That’s everybody’s mindset. She was in my alliance and she said she was going to prove to us that she was loyal by voting her mom out.

Holmes: I’m not a Redemption Island fan, I don’t like idea of someone winning the entire game after they’ve been voted out. If Tina had run the table with those last two challenges and gotten to the final three, would you have voted for her?
Moss: I would’ve voted for Tyson still.
Morett: Up against Tyson and Gervase, as much as I love Tina, I still probably have given it to Tyson. But, it would have depended on what Tina presented. But, based on what we know, Tyson.
Moss: Yeah, it’s hard to give a million dollars to someone who has been voted out. And Tyson played really good.

Holmes: Monica had a rough, rough final Tribal. What was it about her that made the jurors feel like they didn’t know her?
Moss: Monica is a very selfless person. And every question she got she gave a perfect answer. We’re thinking nobody is this nice of a person. So, we all thought she was a little fake. But knowing her outside of the game, she’s legitimately an amazing person.
Morett: I agree. I think for me the frustrating this is I wanted to have a close relationship out there and bond with her, but she wasn’t very open out there. She kept me at a distance. It’s hard to get personal with someone when they don’t open up.

Holmes: Hayden, you came on like gangbusters at the end, you’re a strong player, you’re a really nice guy. Is it hard to stay in a relationship with someone who didn’t make it to the merge?
Moss: (Laughs) Believe it or not, Kat’s next to me right now. And no, our relationship is great. We’re long distance, so it’s a little tougher. But no, just because she didn’t make the merge doesn’t mean it’s hard to be with her.
Holmes: You know I love Kat. But, man…
Moss: (Laughs)
Holmes: Back me up on this, Laura. If your significant other had been out there and he didn’t make the merge, he’d be a goner, right?
Morett: Oh, absolutely. Twenty five years is nothing. You don’t make the merge? Papers are filed.
Moss: Give him the axe!

Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes

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‘Survivor’ Castaways Laura and Ciera: ‘We’re Smarter Than Everyone Else’

September 6, 2013

Laura Morett and Ciera Eastin (CBS)

Quick Note: I had a chance to sit down with all twenty of the “Blood vs. Water” competitors before the game began. I’ll be posting exclusive interviews with each pairing in the days leading up to the September 18th season premiere. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for those interviews, behind-the-scenes exclusives, and more…

Name: Laura Morett
Age: 43
Relationship to Significant Castaway: Ciera’s Mother
Previous Season: “Survivor: Samoa” – third jury member
Current Residence: Salem, Oregon
Occupation: Co-owner of Morett Construction

Name: Ciera Eastin
Age: 24
Relationship to Significant Castaway:  Laura’s Daughter
Current Residence: Salem, Oregon
Occupation: Cosmetology Student
Personal Claim to Fame: Despite the fact that I got pregnant at 17, I am most proud of the fact that I finished high school, worked three jobs to support my daughter, and now I am happily married with two beautiful children.
Pet Peeves: Incompetent people, slow moving people, and negative people who bring the mojo down.

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Gordon Holmes: Alright, Laura. I remember you from your time leading Galu in “Survivor: Samoa.” This girl on your right I don’t know. Tell me all about her.
Laura Morett:  This is my daughter Ciera. She is the oldest of my three. She is the mother of my two grandkids. She is one of my favorite people in the world and I couldn’t be prouder of her.
Gordon: Maybe you’re the wrong person to ask. Your mom has to say nice things about you.
Ciera Eastin: My mom and I get along really well. I’m really excited to be here with her.

Gordon: But in your bio you said you were looking forward to beating your mother. What’s that all about?
Ciera: There’s definitely competition in my family.
Laura: That’s why I love her so much. We will fight, well not fight, but we will compete in everything.  I love that she says she’s going to beat me.
Ciera: But we’re not sore losers.
Laura: Well, I’m more of a sore loser.
Ciera: She is. It’s more of a fun competitive. We’re racing to the car, racing to get groceries.

Gordon: Can you imagine a situation where you’d vote your daughter out?
Laura: I’ve thought about this, if the tribe says, “It’s Ciera going home today.” I’d say, “I respect that, but there’s no way I’m writing her name down.” There’s going to be one vote for whoever. That’s just me.
Ciera: For me, my mom is going to be one of my biggest assets, having someone you can always trust. I think we both know it’s an individual game and we’re going to play with love for each other, but we both know that only one person can win this game.
Laura: And we’ve said, “If you know I’m going home and there’s nothing you can do about it, put my name down if you know it could cost you your game.” And I’m going to love her no matter what. She’s done worse things to me in her life. (Laughs)
Ciera: (Laughs)

Gordon: Laura, you received one of the all-time harsh “Survivor” lessons in Samoa. You were up, I think it was 8 to 4 at the merge over Foa Foa, and then bit by bit your alliance ate itself. You went after Erik Cardona, then the rocket scientist…
Laura: John.
Gordon: Yes, John Fincher:
Laura: He got his degree in the mail. (Laughs)
Gordon: (Laughs) He turned on you guys. Ciera, what did you learn by watching your mom go through that whole ordeal?
Ciera: The biggest thing that I learned is to nourish all of your relationships. And my mom gave me advice not to get comfortable. Even if it’s eight vs. four.
Laura: Definitely. That’s the thing we learned. We thought we were shooting fish in a barrel. Then next thing you know we shot one of our fish. It was because we became too complacent. You can’t do that. (John) Cochran said it on this last show, “Every day before you go to bed, you have to lay there and think about what everyone thinks their biggest threat is.” Like Rupert, what is he thinking? Aras, what’s he thinking? And you have to put your pride aside and figure out what they think of you.
Ciera: I think you have to assume that you’ve annoyed everyone. (Laughs)

Gordon: Ciera, how do you react to people who annoy you? Can you put it behind you or do you need to address it?
Ciera: I’ve worked as a waitress, I’ve worked in coffee, working with the general public you see all kinds. But, you want tips. So, I think one of my biggest advantages will be being able to bite my tongue even though that person is driving me nuts.
Laura: She makes everybody feel like she’s their best friend…and she doesn’t get that from me. (Laughs)

Gordon: If there are twists, what do you think they will be?
Laura: I hope the twist isn’t that they’re bringing back the little Menehune Hantz.
Gordon: Wait, the what?
Laura: You know what a Menehune is?
Gordon: I don’t. I’m familiar with Russell Hantz.
Laura: The Menehune are Hawaiian, and there’s this legend that Menehunes are these little two-feet tall people that cause trouble. They’d come out at night at cause trouble. It’s a perfect nickname. He lives in a jungle and he causes trouble. But yeah, I don’t know what the twist is.

Gordon: What do you think of the cast so far?
Ciera: I think we really like Aras and his brother for allies. Having the blood bond that we have is a big advantage…
Laura: I think mother/daughter is different than brother/brother. Ciera, if you and your brother were out here, you guys could get annoyed at each other.
Ciera: But the blood bond is going to be so much stronger than the husbands and wives and the boyfriends and girlfriends.
Laura: We’ve already picked through who’s going to be effective when their loved one is sent home. You want to shoot two ducks with one bullet. You’re looking at Rupert and his wife. Send Rupert home, his wife won’t know what to do. He’s been out here like nineteen times. Send him home and she’s dead in the water. Tyson and his girlfriend? Send her home, Tyson’s crazy, he’ll eventually explode on himself. Colton and his boyfriend? On day three Colton was bawling wanting to go home. Send his boyfriend home.

Gordon: I like that. Laura, why do you think you’re back?
Laura: My season had one very big character that they focused on, Russell.
Gordon: They remember Jaison (Robinson), but only because of his socks.
Laura: (Laughs) Because he burnt his socks. And Shambo. The big controversy was me, Russell, and Shambo, whether I wanted it to be or not. And I don’t think there are many older women who can still play who have adult daughters that are this stunning. Cameras like pretty things.

Gordon: This is the first time ever we’re going into this game with pairs.
Ciera: Going into this with loved ones, first of all it’s so exciting to be a part of the first time they’ve done this. And you have to expect there to be high, high emotion and lots of drama. You feel a sense of protection and anger when you feel like someone is picking on your loved one. But, I think we’re very level-headed. And I think we’re smarter than everyone else. We’ll have each other backs, but not get angry or aggressive.
Laura: Our strategy is to be ready to jump, be ready to move when an opportunity presents itself. Think three steps ahead.
Ciera: And having someone to bounce ideas off of is great.
Laura: We’ve talked about, if someone approaches you and says, “Hey, let’s vote Rupert out.” Instead of responding to that question, throw out a positive like, “Who do you think we can trust the most?” So, that doesn’t give them ammo to go back to Rupert and say, “Laura’s trying to vote you out.” We’re women, we’re good at manipulating.
Gordon: What? So sexist.
Laura: (Laughs) It’s like with your kids where you say, “Dalton, you make the best…”
Gordon: Dalton?
Laura: Sorry, Gordon.
Gordon: No, I took that as a compliment.
Laura: (Laughs) But I’ll say, “Gordon, you vacuum better than anybody else.” So now, you’re proud of vacuuming. And I’ve manipulated you in a positive way.
Ciera: So that’s why you say nice things to me…

Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes

Don’t miss the special 90-minute premiere of “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” on Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 8 p.m. ET.

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‘Survivor’ Castaway Interview – Laura Morett

November 23, 2009

When the story of “Survivor: Samoa” is told, odds are a majority of it will deal with the women who crossed Russell Hantz and how he got the better of them. In the most recent (and perhaps most impressive) chapter, Russell managed to eliminate Laura Morett from the game despite her Galu tribe having a four-person advantage over Foa Foa. We spoke with Laura the day after her elimination to find out how she feels about Russell becoming a fan favorite, what really went down between her and Shambo, and whether or not she really is a “Mean Girl.”

Gordon Holmes: Good afternoon, Laura.
Laura Morett: Hey, how are you?
Gordon: I’m good. I just wanted to let you know that I’m talking to you on a Palm Pre. For the best in voice clarity, Web browsing, and digital imaging, make it a Palm Pre.
Laura: (Laughs) That’s nice to know.

Gordon: I’m a little disappointed, because I don’t like it when strong players leave early. And I’m kind of getting the feeling that you, John, and Russell were the only ones making any effort out there.
Laura: Thanks!
Gordon: Did you know that John had flipped?
Laura: What a lot of viewers don’t know is that Brett and I had a really tight alliance. And, I know that from the Russell Swan days that John was coming for me.  Brett told me. There was a challenge before, the fishing challenge, that they wanted to throw to get me out. They being John, Erik, and Shambo. They were willing to throw a challenge to get rid of me, so I was thinking I’d better start winning some immunities.

Gordon: There’s been some debate on Fancast over how mean you’ve been to Shambo. She seems very upset with you, but we haven’t been shown what you’ve done to deserve such anger. Were you mean to Shambo?
Laura: Thank you! Don’t you think that if I was mean to Shambo that CBS would show it?
Gordon: Absolutely.
Laura: Believe me, they would be showing it. It’s so hard to watch because I never was. And when people say I’m a mean girl or I’m the head cheerleader, I say, “Show me one time where I did that.” To the contrary, in the very first scene where we’re all swimming we say, “Shambo, come in the water!” And she says, “No.” Then it shows her interview saying, “Those young kids are out there swimming.” Well, first of all Shambo, I’m your age, so is Russell, and so is Dave. She just wanted to be the victim. We always invited her to come into the shelter and she’d sleep out by the tree. It’s really hard to watch this show and be portrayed as a mean girl. I say, “Please show the footage of me being mean to her.”
Gordon: Well, we’ll see how this interview goes, and if you’re super nice to me, I’ll let everyone know.
Laura: Should we start over again?
Gordon: Too late now!

Gordon: Now, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s this guy named Russell on the show.
Laura: (Laughs) Yeah.
Gordon: They show him every now and then. Last night he finds his third immunity idol. Did you have any idea that he had it?
Laura: They didn’t give that as much footage as they should have. It was hilarious. I chose to follow Jaison who doesn’t like to run. I picked a good guy to follow. Dave’s trying to follow Russell, and Russell is running over bushes, under trees. About an hour later Russell comes back to camp and he’s lounging on a hammock, it’s like a cat and mouse game and he has the mouse’s tail hanging out of his mouth. We knew he had it. That little troll found it!
Gordon: So he didn’t even pretend to keep looking for it once he had it to keep up the façade…
Laura: Nah. He’s like laying back, relaxing in his hammock.

Gordon: They kind of teased a cross-tribe alliance between you and Russell, which I dubbed LauRussell, did you ever give that any serious thought?
Laura: No. He’s creepy. There are certain things you can hide, but you can’t hide creepy. From the moment I went to his tribe he was very aggressive. Just super creepy. My family and friends, the texts I got on that day were “Tell me you did not make an alliance with him!” After we merged, he comes up to me and is like, “Hey, remember me, the deal we had?” Then he shows me the idol which immediately confirms that he’s a big fat liar.
Gordon: Because he had told you that Ben found it.
Laura: Right. And I said to him, “Why would I believe you? You lied to me already.” And they didn’t show it, but he got really aggressive. He crossed a line. He gets in my face, he puts his finger in my face. He’s being a bully. He says, “Look little girl, if you know what’s good for you.”
Gordon: Does it bother you that he’s starting to become somewhat of a fan favorite?
Laura: Yes and no, it bothers me because I wish they would have shown where he crosses the line between being a good, aggressive, smart player and OK…he threatened me. He threatened a couple of people and they didn’t show it.
Gordon: Just to be clear, when you say “threaten” you mean, he’s going to vote you out of the game.
Laura: Yeah, not like a physical thing. But more of a “Look it, you’d better do what I’m telling you to do or else.” It really wouldn’t matter because the viewers are going to believe what they want to. But, I’ll give it to him, he’s playing a good, aggressive game.

Gordon: What can you tell me about the game Danger Dave is playing?
Laura: Danger Dave is so misunderstood. He is hilarious. He’s like Kramer from “Seinfeld.” You never know what he’s going to say or do. I had to talk him off the ledge a couple of times because he’s a very sensitive guy. He’s extremely smart. Sometimes smart to the point where you think he’s way overthinking things. He did great in the challenges. He won the chickens with the bocce ball. He’s loyal. Him, Monica, and Brett went to rocks for me. That’s amazing. Three people said, “I don’t care, Lolo. I will draw a rock so you can stay in this game.”

Gordon: OK, word association time. Let’s start with Brett.
Laura: Burgeoning.
Gordon: Danger Dave?
Laura: Misunderstood.
Gordon: Jaison?
Laura: Driven.
Gordon: Natalie?
Laura: Faithful.
Gordon: Shambo?
Laura: Lost.
Gordon: John?
Laura: Self confident.
Gordon: Mick?
Laura: Predictable.
Gordon: Monica?
Laura: Seeking.
Gordon: Russell?
Laura: Tortured.

Gordon: What do you take from your time in Samoa.
Laura: I take owning it. My kids have always said, “Mom, you need to do that.” I can own it. I am strong, I am good at challenges, I can survive in the jungle.
Gordon: Excellent. And thank you for not going all “Mean Girls” on me.
Laura: That’s my goal in life, I don’t want to be mean!

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