How are you doing?
Jason Siska: Still recovering from the episode last night.
Did you actually bring the Hidden Immunity Idol to Tribal Council?
JS: Yes. I did and it is sitting at home on my desk to remind me of the mistake that I made.
The big question is why didn’t you play it?
JS: I just thought at that point in the game that, for Natalie, it would have been in her best interest to keep me around. If James would have gone home last night, if I would have played the idol or if she would have been honest, and been like “let’s really vote for James”, that it would have then been Erik, Alexis, Natalie, and I. Four Fans against the 3 favorites that are left. The name of the game this season was “Survivor Micronesia: Fans .vs Favorites”. I wholeheartedly believe it could have been fans until the end and if I had played the idol and Natalie was like Play the idol, we could have gone to the final 4 no problem. Right now, I don’t think there’s any hope for any of the fans and I mean, Natalie is totally naive to think she’s going to make it to the final 2 or the final 3 with the alliance between Amanda, Parvati, and Cirie that is so strong. I just really thought that I could trust her. It would have been a smart move for all of us if I stuck around. I just don’t think there’s any hope for any of the fans now.
Did any of the girls tell you that James and Amanda were going to blindside you?
JS: Nobody mentioned it at all. They should have. I would have played the idol.
Did you talk to James, Erik and Amanda to see if you could get alinged with them?
JS: I talked to Amanda. We got along really well, but James did not like me. He just thought I was just some hot shot, white, little boy, or something like that and couldn’t get over the fact that I was like, confident and competent in what I was doing. So he didn’t like me and I don’t think that he was ever going to budge and his alliance would ever try to get me on board. Erik, you know, he was just a pawn and didn’t really think for himself the whole game. He was kind of just Ozzy’s toy. He didn’t know what to do either.
Were you aware of the girl’s alliance forming?
JS: I should have been more, but I wasn’t. Yeah. That’s all I can say about that.
You were thinking Fans vs Favorites?
JS: I would have liked it to be that way. I may have just blinded myself by only thinking that way.
Tell me about Ozzy.
JS: I loved Ozzy. You know, he was a really cool guy. It was awesome to compete against him, you know, because when you compete against the best, that’s when you perform at your best as well. I’m a really commpetive person. Just being out there and having someone to go head to head against was awesome. Upon returning, upon getting to Ponderosa, it was totally cool. We both… He’s a cool guy. We got along fine. I had my guitar and he had his harmonica and we were playing music. The next day we went surfing together. In the game there was obviously going to be that natural arch rival competitiveness against each other. Outside of the game, you know, he’s just another cool guy that I’d totally be friends with. When we went to Yap, I was with Erik, Ozzy and Amanda. I wish I could have tried to get into their alliance or mix things up, but they were just so set in what they already had going, that there was no possibilities of getting them to mix up.
Going back to the beginning, what about the “Young vs. Old” thing?
JS: Yeah. I won’t even say that it was the young vs the old. It was the people that really wanted to be there and just wanted to give 100% and the other people who were just there. That relaly threw my game off in the beginning, when Joel sided with the weaker players and voted out Mary and Mikey B. Mary, Mikey B, we were pretty close. I thought we were close with Alexis too, but, that really threw things off. It’s a shame, because Mikey B loved being out there. Mary loved being out there. They loved the game. Then you got these 2 other people who stick around, Chet and Kathy, who end up quitting the game. It’s just really sad. I feel that they should not have even been there in the first place. I mean there was a reason that Kathy had applied, God knows how many times, and never made it. She was not supposed to be there.
Do you have any comments about Chet?
JS: Chet happens… I mean, I donno. The fact that he quit the game. I was there with him the whole time, standing next to the doctors. They’re talking to him. It was not a life threatening injury. You see the 2 ends of the spectrum. You see Jonathan who had a hole in his leg, begging and crying to stay in the game, and you got Chet who’s like “my foot! my foot!”. It was just ahhh! To be out there with these people who didn’t even want to be there was really tough.
Tracy, Kathy and Chet said that you were the meanest and that you would take palm fronds off their shelter and hide the machete. Is that accurate?
JS: I wouldn’t say so. I mean, obviously, some of them are a little bit crazy and may not see reality in the way it is, but no. There was one incident where we had gotten the fire built and I thought it would be a good idea to create a rain protective shelter over the fire. I was going to stay up all night to keep it going, because it was a pain in the butt to get the fire restarted with the flint. There were no more palm fronds on the beach. All of the palm trees were too tall. We couldn’t get any more and I was like, Could you spare a couple of palm fronds so I could make a semi shelter for myself and the fire. They just wanted no part of that. I think actually, during that moment, Chet kind of blew up at me and he said “to go stick the machete up my A S S.
When you were on Exile with Chet, did he tell you that Ozzy had probably found the idol?
JS: Yeah. He hinted at it. I was watching his interviews and he’s like “I knew Ozzy had it” and people are like “how did he know Ozzy had it” and he’s like “I have my ways of finding ways out”. That just sounds like total BS to me. I wasn’t going to sit around and not look for it. He was just lazy. He didn’t have it in him to go find it. I found it, but it was the fake one. That’s more than sitting on the beach complaining about your foot.
Did you tell anybody that you found the idol?
JS: No! I did not. I wish I would have. The incident of the fake hidden immunity idol sending Eliza home possibly could have been avoided. But, honestly, I found the idol. I was a bit skeptical at first. Then I could of, well, this could be it. Maybe their going for a different kind of idol this year. A little more inconspicuous. I got back to camp. I hid it. We kept winning the challenges, so I really didn’t think about it for like another 10 days. That led to me being so naive. I didn’t even look at the idol for those 10-15 days that I had it.
It was generous to give it to Eliza, but why did you think that keeping Eliza around was better for you than keeping the Hidden Immunity Idol for yourself?
JS: Just because it could have turned the tide. I think that if we would have been able to get rid of one of the favorites at that point, it would have been 4 fans, Eliza, and then 4 favorites. Then it could have been us, it could have been the fans down to the end instead of the direction that things are going right now.
Did you get a fair edit?
JS: Yeah. Totally. I think that CBS did a great job editing the show. Everything that was recorded on camera happened and every was said and done. It’s people’s own fault if they are doing things that they are embarrassed of later on. I don’t have any shame for the things that I did.
Was there anything that wasn’t shown that you wish was shown?
JS: Just some of the cooler things that were going on. I remember the day after the merge, Ozzy, Amanda, Erik and James, we all took the boat out to the reeef and Ozzy and I were spear fishing for a couple hours. That was a really cool moment. They only have a limited amount of time to and they really have to keep the story line going. They can’t take up the time for all the cool stuff.
Who would you like to see win?
JS: I would love to see Alexis go to the end. She is a beautiful girl, inside and out. I absolutely adore her. I got my fingers crossed that she could pull something out of her hat. Right now, though, it’s looking pretty bad for the fans. I wish I would have played the idol and it would have been Erik, Alexis, Natalie, and myself. 4 fans remaining and the 3 favorites. THe whole time I was out there, I always thought it should have been fans .vs favorites to the end. Parvati did a good job of getting Natalie and Alexis to think that they could be on the inside of the alliance. If that works out for them in the end, then more power to them, but I just can’t see that happening. The alliance between Cirie, Amanda, and Parvati is too stong and that they would never take a fan to the final 2 or 3 with them.
Were there any favorites that you wanted to be aligned with?
JS: Yeah. I would love to have aligned with Amanda and Ozzy. I Ozzy is a really cool guy. When we’re competing against, of course, we’re both going to go 110%. But it was great workign with him in the challenge where we won and went to Yap, but they were all just so set in their alliance and at that point in the game, they didn’t need to make a change. They didn’t need to take me on or anything, into their alliance, so they were just doing what they thought was best for them in the game.
Because it had just happened to Ozzy, did it occur to you that they were trying to keep you from playing the idol?
JS: Yeah. In hind sight of course, but I just really, again, will emphasize the fact that I really thought it was going to be in the best interest of Natalie to be honest with me and for me to stick around, because then it could have been 4 fans .vs the 3 favorites. We could have gone to the final 4 together and duked it out from there. Right now it’s not looking good for any of the fans. I think that’s sad, because the favorites had their chance once already. It really should be fan in the final and who wins the million dollars. Natalie has got to be pretty naive to think that they would actually take her to the end.
Did you see that everyone was looking at you to see if you were going to play it in Tribal Council?
JS: No. It was probably just the editing.
It seems like this round of survivors is pretty cut throat.
JS: I would say so. Especially the girls. In listening to some of the stuff that Natalie said last night, I was blown away. It was real cut throat from the very, very beginning. We had the ousting of Yau-Man. We had Mary gone. We had Mikey B sent home. All of these names of real serious, especially in the begining of the game, to vote out these players that loved and really wanted to be there adn to keep around like Chet and Kathy who ended up quiting the game is tragic.
In another season, would your trusting nature have fit in better and not been exploited?
JS: I would hope so. I liked being a geniunely honest person. I felt like, in the beginning of the game, when I was aligned with Mikey B and Mary and thought Alexis was with us too, I like having that feeling of openess and being like “we gotta get rid of the weaker players”. Joel went in another direction. I hated the move. I think it was dumb. It ended up being his downfall, so hopefully he regrets making that mistake.
Is there anyone left in the game that’s trusting like you?
JS: Erik might be a little bit too trusting, a little bit naive, maybe like myself. I would say that all of the fans, at this point, especially when they are believing the BS that comes out of the favorites. “Oh, yeah. we’re in it to the end with you girls.” No Way! I was saying the whole game that we can not trust anything that the favorites say. They’ve played this game. They know how to play you, and they will, given the chance.
After you found out that the Immunity Idol was being put back on Exile, why were you apprehensive about going back?
JS: You know, I was just like Oh man. They’re sending me to Exile Island Again! Natalie’s taking my $500. I was going to keep it. I could go on a nice little vacation when I got home with that. But then, shortly after her thing, then I was of course, this ain’t so bad. It’s pretty sweet. I’ll probably find the idol. Hopefully, natalie was doing it as a strategic move. Obviously that was dumb thought.
You got tricked again. You were tricked at that other challenge.
JS: I wouldn’t say I was tricked, really.
Do you think that you are too trusting to play this game?
JS: Maybe. A little bit. I should have been, yeah, more cut throat, I guess.
How do you think the 5 girls are going to cut each other’s throats?
JS: I think it’s just going to be, the favorites are going to eliminate the fans. CIrie, Amanda, and Parvati is a force to be reckoned with. Alexis and Natalie really need to pull something out of their hat if they want to make something happen, because Erik is just floating up in the clouds. We’ll see…
I was surprised by the stuff that Natalie said last night. I hadn’t heard from her last week.
JS: You mean the whole season. I was blown away by the things that she said and did. I guess that’s what happens. You get cold hearted when you’re a cacoktail waitress in LA for the past 10 years.
Are they going to put the Immunity Idol back on the island?
JS: Yeah. It will always go back until there’s 5 people left in the game. Then there will be no more immunity idol.
Did James say anything to you at all?
JS: James did not like me. I wish we could have gotten along. When I watched him in China, I was like James is awesome! I was really looking forward to meet him, but he just thought I was some hot shot, little, white, punk. Maybe he couldn’t get over the fact that I was confident and competent in what I was doing in the game.
You didn’t get that from the editing at all. That you didn’t get along.
JS: Yeah, he didn’t like me. I think that James gets a real pleasent edit. He’s actually kind of an abrasive, vulgar man.
Did you apply for this before?
JS: This was the first time. This was back in July. My friend called me up 3 days before an open casting call at Brookfield Zoo. He said You gotta go! I was hesitant. I slept on it and decided I’d go, woke up at like 4 in the morning on Saturday, drive down to the Brookfield Zoo. I was the second person in line. The camera set, they’re like you go 3 minutes to make an impression and I guess I did a good job.
Would you do it again?
JS: In a heart beat. It’d be a dream to come back and be a favorite.
What did you learn about yourself?
JS: I wouldn’t say that it was a totally life changing experience, but it was definitly life altering. It made me more aware of what really is important in life, like family and friends and people you can trust. It was really sick coming home. I think I ran out to Target in one of the next days and I was disgusted at how much excess we have in our lives. The whole American culture is this culture of consumerism. There’s so many things that we don’t need, but really think that we do. It was incredible getting to live out in the wild for 30 days, having very little, but still being totally content and happy with life.
– Survivor: Micronesia airs on CBS in the U.S. on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
– Survivor: Micronesia airs on the GLOBAL network in Canada on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Sir Linksalot: Survivor: Micronesia
