This past week Marcus Lehman was voted off of Survivor: Gabon. I got the chance to talk to him about his Survivor: Gabon experience and he had a lot to say…
Josh Clinton: Hey Marcus, how’s it going?
Marcus Lehman: Hey man, doing good. How are you?
JC: I’m well. Going into the game did you have a specific strategy you wanted to use?
ML: Yeah, for me, my concern was if my resume going to get me kicked off the first three days? I really wanted to be engaged and not give away too much. Engage people in good conversations and let everyone see that I’m a good guy with good intentions before telling everyone I was a doctor or where I went to school, etc. Also, let people dig themselves a hole if they need to do that and not try to save everyone like it’s a hospital or something. So it worked pretty well.
JC: Yeah. So were you completely surprised by getting eliminated when you did?
ML: You could sense that when the merge went down, just running the numbers and realizing who I was surrounded by, I knew I was in trouble. I knew it was going to be a much harder road than I had previously anticipated.
JC: Right. Why do you think you were ultimately eliminated then?
ML: I don’t think that Crystal and Susie and Kenny, for that matter, really saw the situation I did. There were certain things that I wasn’t willing to take advantage of, including the relationship I had with Crystal. I guess Crystal felt differently about that. She was being very back and forth, and I think somehow she decided that casting her lot with people that were more free to act than confident to do so would be the way to go for her. At some point, I can’t change people’s minds with that regard. If they are too scared to take the high road, they will try the low one.
JC: Exactly. Who were you angrier at, Crystal for lying to you or Susie for breaking away from your alliance?
ML: I won’t say I was angrier, but I was definitely disappointed more so with Crystal, because we have this outside the show connection. That certainly has been impacted by our interaction on the show, which is unfortunate. But it’s mostly because there was an agreed way to go about this situation that would have allowed us to maybe have a little less filling out, which I think would have been a little better for the show. Just the positive energy I was hoping we could carry out throughout the show.
JC: Yeah. Given the turn of events, do you have any regrets throwing away the second hidden Immunity Idol?
ML: That’s a good question. I have gotten it a few times today. My answer is always no. Put yourself in the situation. You are one of ten people that could end up with it. Everyone knew where it was. It was a very group-orientated scenario. I would rather it be floating in the ocean than be in Crystal’s or Susie’s or Kenny’s or anyone else’s hands that I wasn’t trying to side with. But in reality, even if I had ended up with it, that would have made my target five times bigger. So they would have been strategizing against me from that round all the way down to the bottom even more so than if I didn’t have it. So for me it was a bigger headache to have than not. But heck it was an awesome way to get back at them for twisting us up so much. So we had a good time with it.
JC: Right. When you got the Treemail for the feast, did you and the others feel that the merge was about to happen?
ML: Well I was doing air guitar because we were about to it. I was stoked about that. We felt like the merge was coming, but we spent a good hour talking about what we thought was going on here. The conclusion was we were going to merge or we were not, and we can’t predict what will happen if we don’t merge. We would either go back as separate tribes again or they’ll mix us up some way we can’t predict. So at that point, just go in and enjoy the feast and cross our fingers that we’re going to merge. In reality, that clue was written like we were going to merge. So I made a comment right before we came on that “hey, I don’t think we are going to merge. Something smells fishy!” Even the challenge after the merge feast that was basically an individual immunity challenge. That was a little suspicious there, but what can you do?
JC: Yeah. So what were you feeling when you found out you were swapping tribes?
ML: I was disappointed. We still had the numbers, but I knew that in terms of the strategic brainpower I was with Susie and Bob. So I got the short end of that stick. Susie was just nuts and she really wasn’t on board with anything except herself. And I don’t know if you noticed but there was a shot of Bob snoozing in the hut. That dude literally slept for four hours while we were strategizing the entire time with Susie and Dan, which is a complicated issue. He was faithful and honorable, which we definitely knew that, but he generally escapes himself from any sort of strategy. So it was tough because I knew that I didn’t have anyone to help me campaign and when you are out there on your own it’s basically four against one. I knew I had a vote, but I didn’t have that extra brainpower working for me.
JC: I got you. This was the first time you really had a chance to interact with Crystal and Kenny in the game. What were your thoughts on them as players in the game and as people?
ML: I always want to stay positive about everybody. I hope the best for Kenny. He is a great example and his father is a great role model. I really hope that he can step into acknowledging how to meet people on the same playing field. I think I was disappointed in some of their strategies. I know a lot of people say “it’s just a game”. But I have a little cousin named Alex who watches the show and he sees that stuff, and I hate to think that there are people out there who think that is appropriate. You know, for a few thousand bucks you can sacrifice a family/friend relationship or take advantage of someone’s compassion. It’s kind of a bummer. I really think you can have an interesting Survivor and not be resorting to the lower elements of strategy to get through to the next day. But that’s my personal belief and I don’t hold anyone to it. Kudos to them, if they are happy with the way they played.
JC: Yeah. Randy seems to have placed himself in a good position to win or at least be in the final three. Who else seems to be well positioned going forward?
ML: It’s an interesting question, because we have this big switch. We don’t know when the merge is coming, and we don’t know who is doing what. I would love to see my crew stick together. But Sugar is in a good spot, because there is a lot of talk of “if I’m gone, who are the going to bring over?” I sorta think that putting Sugar on Exile Island separated her from everyone and gave us a chance to give her food and nourishment. So I think maybe she is in a good spot. There is definitely some good players out there. If the game is truly swinging in Fang’s direction, then those guys would definitely get the upper hand.
JC: Definitely. You won a lot of rewards, but what was your favorite one?
ML: They were all so incredible for different reasons. Just the experience of getting to taste stuff again, it’s like being reborn almost. I would say the best one was the reward challenge where we took the helicopter over to the cliff. That was like a top five moment of my life. I will never forget that experience. From the amount of food there to the ride itself, and just being around people who I thought had all gotten onto the plan as best we could. Everyone was trying to commit to this great idea, and it ended up working really well for us. And we were really excited. And I think most deservingly we should have been, because it was a really good experience. We were doing what we needed to do, so I would say that was my best moment. But getting the family letters was awesome. I will never forget that. That’s a highlight for me.
JC: Very cool. Well thanks for your time and good luck with everything in the future.
ML: My pleasure. Thank you.
Survivor: Gabon airs on CBS in the U.S. on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
– Survivor: Gabon airs on the GLOBAL network in Canada on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
