Tashi: No-one wants to be the first Survivor out - did you ever imagine it was gonna happen to you?
Sekou: No, not at all, I felt pretty strong going into the game but when we lost the competition I had a pretty strong sense of it in the tribe and I was the oldest one so I thought perhaps I would be the first to go (laughs) so…
Tashi: What was your biggest mistake?
Sekou: Not convincing - when we came into the game Stephannie felt like an outsider and the other two ladies had teamed up and they were close and so I could have, at the beginning, made an alliance with Stephannie at the very beginning and I think that would have got rid of one of the other girls and I didn’t see that soon enough - convincing her to vote one of the girls out and break up the gender alliance.
Tashi: In terms of the division of the tribes - did you think it sucked that tribes were divided according to ethnicity?
Sekou: No. Not at all. I think, when we come into this world, we all divide by ethninicity anyway - we come into families and neighbourhoods so there was nothing odd about it.
Tashi: I’m interested to know what kind of role that played - whether people felt immediately united - did that happen?
Sekou: Uh … you know …not necessarily because I think the tribes you’re in and the names of the tribes had more significance than that for everybody. The race thing didn’t really play an important factor for anybody, you know because everybody comes from different backgrounds and they’re raised differently so I think, you know whoever was in your tribe, you just tried to win.
Tashi: When you arrived what were your plans? Like how did you think you were gonna go about willing, winning the million bucks?
Sekou: Well I thought if I could contribute a lot to the tribe I’d be an asset and I thought that if I could fly under the radar that I could go a long way but I didn’t really have a set strategy of how I was gonna play.
Tashi: As the leader you basically put yourself out there and were then described as being bossy but not taking charge of the tribe. Do you agree with that assessment of your leadership?
Sekou: No I totally disagree. You know, leadership, I dunno - everybody went out there to contribute what they could contribute. I went out there with the information I had about life and what I had about building – the hut that we had, our shelter – I had a good sense of what to do.
I just got up there and did it you know, nobody else really had an idea as to what to do – they were clueless and so if they want to call me a leader because of that, then fine but I just went out there.
I wanted to have fun, how to make fire - three times I almost got .. I got a lot of smoke, Im the only one who almost got the fire, I cut down a lot of bamboo - built that hut for everybody’s shelter and also fed the girls a lot of coconut shoots you know, so I contributed a lot because I enjoyed being out there - I wasn’t afraid, I went swimming, I went around the whole island, exploring - it was an adventure for me.
Tashi: When you were voted off Rebecca said it would be easier for Hiki to work as a team without you as a leader.
Sekou: I don’t know, maybe they were intimidated because I came in and I was sure of myself. I think it’s apparent that they didn’t have enough leadership themselves and figured – I mean the idea of being out there on Survivor is to really survive.
If people get caught up in somebody trying to be the leader, then they’re going to miss the whole point. I certainly don’t feel like I intended to intimidate anybody - I just wanted to do my part, which I believe I did.
Tashi: What was the most difficult thing?
Sekou: I dunno (laughs) Not being able to take a good bath and smelling after three days.
Tashi: And what was the most fun?
Sekou: Swimming out there, building the hut, building the shelter, to compete in the challenge - all of that was awesome. Getting to know these people youd gone on the ship with, going on the raft, you got to get to know people, its really challenging to know what you’re made of.
Tashi: In terms of all the people across the tribes, when you first sort of spotted them - who struck you most? Was there anyone in another tribe that you wish you’d been in an alliance with – or been in a tribe with that you could have hooked up with?
Sekou: Oh definitely, I could have been with several people, like Cao Boi, Ozzy – some of the other ladies like Becky and Jenna, Flica – a lot of people struck my interest, it would have been really fun.(laughs) I know I would have lasted a really long time if I’d been in a tribe with other people.
Tashi: Who surprised you the most? Who turned out like differently from how you imagined?
Sekou: Sundra pretty much surprised me because when we started off she wasn’t very chivied a lot - she was just there so I think out of everybody she surprised me.
Tashi: If you were watching the show who would your fave Survivor have been?
Sekou: Ozzy. He’s like a jungle boy you know, (laughs).
Tashi: Once you got voted out at Tribal Council – what happened to you? Where did you go? Do you go straight home? Do you stay out there a bit and then leave?
Sekou: You just go and you relax. You have a great time You stay out there during the process, its like you’re on vacation. (
Zones out)
Ends
PS: I have a theory that men actually like to be at the mercy of chicks. Apparently men don't mind if you flirt with them for some other reason than only wanting t
hem - even if they know why you're up to. How cool is that??
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GO GOLD!