Murtzcellanious: Murtz Jaffer Interviews Survivor: Fiji's Stacy Kimball

Interviews, Shows

I was a big Stacy fan during the season. I think everyone knows that I respected the cut-throat way that she played the game and I thought that she was one of the few in Fiji who was willing to do whatever it took to move ahead. I loved meeting her at the finale and this was one of my favorite interviews of all-time and I think it is another in our series of must-reads. Check it out!



Murtz Jaffer: Stacy, it’s Murtz.

Stacy Kimball: Hey Murtz.

MJ: Are you ready for the greatest interview of all-time?

SK: I think I am. Are you?

MJ: I am always ready. I think you know that you were one of my favorite players this season, so I want to start by asking you where things went wrong.

SK: At the beginning, the middle, or the end?

MJ: Let’s go with the end first.

SK: Okay, I think that when I started to believe Yau Man telling me that Alex was throwing me out, I jumped to their alliance and I was kind of at the bottom of their barrel but I think I kind of worked my way up.

MJ: So you were at the bottom of the barrel on both sides?

SK: I believe that I was at the bottom of the barrel with Yau Man, but perhaps I could have done a little bit more work with him. Get him to hedge his bets on taking me to the final whatever… that I would be a loyal vote but also plead my case that I didn’t really think that people would vote for me… compared to him.

MJ: Right, right. Were you happy with the way that you were portrayed?

SK: I think that there’s a lot of things that weren’t shown. Those little moments were accurate but they were strung together with a lot of other facts. So I don’t think that I was portrayed as a nice person but sometimes I am not nice! That’s the sometimes that you saw.

MJ: I think everyone likes to joke about which one was Michelle and which one was Stacy. Can you tell me what the biggest difference between the two of you is?

SK: I think that Michelle tends to always see the glass as half full and I just say that the glass is bare.

MJ: I think that one of the things that I liked the most about the way that you played was the fact that you were unapologetic. You turned on the Horsemen when the moment was right and you did not help Dreamz and Cassandra make the coffee. To me, this is how you play the game of Survivor. To move yourself ahead. Do you agree, is that what it is about? Just taking care of yourself?

SK: I think it’s about taking care of yourself, but politicking along the way.

MJ: Do you think you were politicking along the way?

SK: I definitely wasn’t. (Laughs). I think that in the beginning I thought that I was playing the game by just laying low because I know I have a very strong personality. I didn’t want people to take it the wrong way. But instead of people looking at me like ‘oh, she’s trying to take control,’ they looked at me like ‘oh, why is she not talking to me, does she think that she’s better than me?’ So it’s kind of like I couldn’t win either way so I should have put a better foot forward to make a better impression on people.

MJ: This is a game that is completely about the individual as Dreamz proved. Does it upset you that you got so much flack for basically just doing whatever you could to stay alive?

SK: I think at first it did because I think that people that don’t know me were kind of shocked by how bold I am, but this is the way I kind of live life too. I take chances and when I see a door has just opened a little bit, I kick it down. And so when opportunity knocked in the game, I did the same thing.

MJ: How do you answer Alex when he said that he saved you on the Michelle vote. Do you think you owed him any kind of loyalty?

SK: No, that pissed me off! You think that I owe you anything? This is Survivor!

MJ: But do you think that he saved you?

SK: I think that everybody in that game is making moves to benefit themselves so at that moment he was going to benefit from me staying in the game so he saved me indirectly, but he was out for himself.

MJ: Did it upset you that the boys eliminated your friend Lisi? Is that why you made the jump to Earl’s alliance?

SK: I think that I overheard that Lisi really wanted to go home. That she kind of cracked out on Exile so it was more understandable that they didn’t just oust her, they kind of freed her instead of trying to convince her to stay on which would have been a lot better. I mean, yeah. We would have definitely been more compelled to stay together as the core five we had going on.

MJ: People have said that the reason you wanted Liliana gone is because you wanted to be the only hot girl. You are definitely hot, but was that really the case?

SK: No way! I thought I was so busted out there! I would have never been like ‘oh I want to be the hot girl!’ (Laughs). I knew that it was rough out there. The reason why I wanted Liliana gone was because in the very beginning she used to disappear with Rocky a lot when we were a tribe of 19. For whatever was going on, they obviously had a deep connection going on and at the merge, we considered that a double-vote in any direction which is very dangerous as you know. In addition to that, she didn’t really like anybody that was around her. She was just kind of playing her cards until she got to the merge and she was trying to woo herself into our alliance and she was definitely (as a player), a threat. I knew that later on down the line, we weren’t losing any challenges that she would be a girl that would be tough to beat so the sooner that we could get rid of her, the better.

MJ: Now, you know that I have a thing for Michelle, can you give me any advice on how to win her over? What does it take to impress a girl like Stacy?

SK: With Michelle, it’s all puppies and ice cream and anything nice. With a girl like me, you have to play calm, cool, collected, independent. You’re not like ‘wow.’ You’re just like ‘this is a cool chick.’ Let’s just do cool things. Not like crazy. (Laughs).

MJ: One of the challenges that was particularly tough on you was the one where everybody had to answer questions about the other people still left in the game. Can you tell me about that challenge and how you felt about it at the time?

SK: Yeah, that was a pretty tough challenge. I was like ‘wow.’ But I put it into perspective. I knew that it was a game and there were probably 10 different reasons as to why they might have put my name down. But I internalized it. I was like these people… I don’t think that they know me because I don’t think that I am a horrible person. So it’s up to me to kind of reinvent myself in the game and then kind of let them in a little bit more because obviously I was being very closed off. So that’s what I did. I went back to camp and I opened myself up to Yau Man and to Earl and they completely embraced me. We had a conversation about it and I said that I was afraid to come out too strong because I didn’t want to be perceived as a leader so I kind of sat in the back and just kind of watched things happen but because I did that, people thought that I was a snob or something.

MJ: I was very impressed with your jury question. How did you come up with it and did you actually consider voting for Dreamz just because he needed it more?

SK: It crossed my mind that I would have voted for Dreamz, but it just kind of seemed like he had no compassion and I think that if he would have played on my emotional side, I would have voted for him. But being that, I wasn’t voting on a need-basis, I wanted to know how Earl thought he played a better game and it’s funny because what wasn’t shown was Earl kind of explaining himself saying that he played a really clean game. We all had to do something. We all had to double-cross or lie to somebody to get to the end. I just wanted him to admit that integrity was kind of checked at the door which he did. Which is honorable. It’s just like ‘you know what? We’re done playing the game.’ Here it is. These are my cards. Vote for me if you want to vote for me. I can respect that but I didn’t respect Dreamz.

MJ: How much of a Murtzaholic are you?

SK: I LOVE Murtz! There wasn’t enough room on the island for two Asian girls, but there’s always enough room for two Asian MURTZAHOLICS!!!!!! Maybe your biggest fans are Michelle and I! When is Murtz-fest!? I’m soooo looking forward to partying with you like a rock star! Actually, I was looking for your e-mail address because I have this fantastic picture from the wrap party.


MJ: What are the odds of you and Michelle both kissing me at Murtzfest?

SK: Oooooh – i think we could arrange some kind of three-way…fun, haha! How long can you hold your breath? Mmm… Murtz, of course we can be one happy sushi roll! I see you like things spicy… I’ll send you some pics to hold you over in the meantime…consider it a teaser to what’s to come at Murtzfest!

MJ: I think the party just got even better, now it seriously is a must-attend.. well, for me anyway. It’s going to be pretty awesome! We’re both internet people. So what’s next for you after the show?

SK: Oh, I would absolutely love to launch a career doing some hosting jobs on TV or VJ… something where I can kind of put myself out there and have a really good time.

MJ: That’s awesome Stacy. Thanks a lot!

SK: Thank you!


Born in South Korea, Stacy Kimball was adopted at six months old and raised in Montpelier, Vermont.

At the age of 17, Kimball moved to Miami, Florida, even though she had never visited the city before. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from the Ai Miami International University of Art and Design while working full time and interning.

Kimball currently works in advertising as an interactive producer where she works together with the creative department and the development team to produce innovative web content for national clients.

Kimball enjoys knitting, making jewelry and cooking. She describes herself as resourceful, optimistic and good-humored. Whether living in Vermont, Miami or Boulder, she is most proud of her ability to adapt to her surroundings.

Kimball is currently single and living in Boulder, Colorado. Her birth date is October 1, 1979.


Survivor: Fiji airs on CBS on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Survivor: Fiji airs on the Global network in Canada on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Sir Linksalot: Survivor: Fiji

Please credit Murtz Jaffer & RealityDish.com when using this interview. If reposting, please post just an excerpt and link back to the rest of the piece.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.