Josh Clinton: Hey Cheryl.
Cheryl Kosewicz: Hi Josh.
JC: How are you doing?
CK: Not too shabby.
JC: Good. So what attracted you to Pirate Master?
CK: It was just kinda a big surprise for me. I had tried out for Survivor initially and made it through to the final auditions, but didn’t make it. Then they called me and wanted me on this new show, and when I checked it out it had more of a physical nature to it. The running the ship and hunting for treasure and that sort of thing was way up my alley when we are talking about competiveness.
JC: Right. So what did you think of the pardon twist? Did you like it?
CK: **laughing** Of course, I didn’t. That pretty much screwed me. I think they were pretty much gunning for JD, and then here comes the pardon and who has more money than JD? No one. So the next one is me.
JC: Right, so is that the reason you didn’t bid on the pardon since you knew Joe Don had the most money? Because at the end of the show, you said that you didn’t big on the pardon because you felt no one wanted you there, so you might as well leave.
CK: Well you know what I did. I thought a lot about it. I had actually was going to make a bid of $8,000. But then I was thinking that JD knows I have the next most amount of money of $11,000 something. So he’s probably going to bid $12,000, I would think, for him to stay on the show. So I was willing to put up $8,000. Then I Started thinking about things, “do I want to go now or do I want to spend $8,000 to go next time?” So I was just like “if they don’t want me here, they don’t want me here. Fine.” And I didn’t bid.
JC: But isn’t the point of the game to stay as long as you can when other people don’t want you there?
CK: Of course, it is. Honestly, when I started the game that’s what I thought I could do. I thought I could manipulate and could lie and cheat and steal and all of that, but that’s one of the lessons I learned. I’m not that way in real life, and I just can’t turn it on to win money on a ship.
JC: Yeah, that makes sense. Did you want to go home this week, though? It seemed like you fought harder to stay last week than this week.
CK: Oh no, I definitely didn’t want to go home. I think the second time I was up there was even harder for me. I thought the reason I was going home, the jealousy reason and that I was a threat to them was bull. I would have loved to stay, because I would have been an attribute to every treasure hunt out there. And, of course, my competitive nature I wanted to stay. I met friends on there, but it’s just that I didn’t go around making deals with everyone to make me stay.
JC: I see. Do you think Louie planned your demise intentionally to cost Joe Don $7,000?
CK: I think that was part of it. But the biggest reason I was up there wasn’t Louie, it was Nessa. Nessa wanted me up there. Nessa was very very jealous of me. She wanted to be the strongest and most athletic girl on the ship, and as long as I was on there that was not her.
JC: So what do you think about Louie then?
CK: Um..Louie is Louie. He’s a great guy and he’s funny, but I think he just had the wrong reasons for what he was doing.
JC: So do you think he is vindictive?
CK: Oh yeah, absolutely. He pretty much said he was.
JC: Right. Why do you think Jay had it out for you?
CK: Two reasons. One, because when I was an officer he was ordered to do some things like night watches and he was letting people sleep and just not do them. So I came down on him, “we have to do them, you have to make them do them.” And he really got offended. I believe he got offended because, #1, he didn’t like a female telling him what to do. #2, I think he had it out for me because he knew damn well that he couldn’t manipulate me. Look at the other girls, look at Kendra, look at the people that are still on the show that should have been gone way before me.
JC: Objectively, do you think Jay is the best pirate on the ship or the best at playing this game right now?
CK: Absolutely, that’s his life. I think he read every book on manipulation that there is. Looking at the show now, and seeing what he was doing behind our backs, absolutely. Well he’s playing the game the right way. I don’t know if I would say he’s the best pirate, but he’s playing the game the right way.
JC: Right. So what exactly was your relationship with Joe Don?
CK: Joe Don and I were very close. We had similar backgrounds. We were both older and were established in our lives. We didn’t get into a lot of drama and all of the little high school b.s. that everyone else got into. He’s a funny guy and I think we got along because we were a couple of the older people on the show.
JC: That’s cool. You mentioned Nessa earlier. Do you think Nessa is going to become the new Cheryl in that she becomes Joe Don’s partner in crime?
CK: I think she is absolutely working on it. She is working every guy on that ship, though. It’s not just Joe Don, she is working them all.
JC: I understand. Next week, Joe Don has to sell the pardon. Do you think it’s his plan to loan the money to Nessa to buy the pardon, that way he can get the money back and get her loyality as well?
CK: Joe Don even offered me the pardon, if it was possible. But that just wasn’t part of the rules. Joe Don has to make some friends and Nessa is in an authoritative position and she is in good with some of the other people, so he is going to do whatever he has to do to get in with people. If that means loaning money, if that means giving the pardon away, I’m sure that’s what he’s going to do.
JC: Yeah, that makes sense. It seemed like you and Jupiter were friends on the show, was that true?
CK: Yes, that’s absolutely true.
JC: How did that friendship start?
CK: You know, I don’t know. When I first saw her on the ship, I thought she was going to be the one that was going to get on my nerves, but she was just a free spirit, motherly type of person. I think we first got on there, we started cooking together and we just kinda bonded.
JC: Do you think you will be friends with her away from the show now?
CK: Um, I don’t know. We’ll keep in touch, but she lives a totally different lifestyle than I do. Joy is my girl. Joy and I will be lifetime friends.
JC: That’s cool. Was there any romances on the ship that you saw?
CK: Oh yeah. There was Nessa working her magic on Joe Don. I think Christa said she would do anything, except work, for money so whatever that means. There was small moments of romance.
JC: So how much money did you walk with from the show?
CK: When I got cut adrift, I walked away with around $11,200.
JC: Nice. Did you do the show for the money or was there other reasons?
CK: I totally didn’t do the show for the money, I totally did it for the experience and another competitive thing to do. Just to try something different. But, of course, once I got on there I wanted the money, because I have bills to pay when I get back.
JC: Right. What are your plans now?
CK: Well I had a career when I was on the show, and I still have a career. I missed my career as a district attorney. Now I’ve been given the show to even further the work that I do in the community. I work with foster kids in the community. I promote the adoption of foster kids, so I will use the show and me being a pirate to further promote that.
JC: Very cool. Well thanks for your time and good luck with everything.
CK: It’s no problem. Thank you.
– Pirate Master airs on CBS on Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT time all summer long.
– Pirate Master airs on the CTV network in Canada on Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT time all summer long.
