The Contenders are dropping like flies after Casey became the 10th person voted out of Australian Survivor.
Despite trying to form an alliance with Janine, Abbey and Pia, the Champions sent her home after their original plan to kick out Harry backfired when he played his immunity idol.
We may not have seen her participate in many challenges or get too much air time, but it turns out that the Champion girls’ alliance fed Casey a lie to lull her into a false sense of security. Here she lifts the lid on what didn’t make it to air plus, she reveals the one thing she’d do differently if she had her chance again.
TV WEEK: We’re sorry to see you go Casey! But it seems like you knew you were in danger quite early on, were you surprised that you were voted out?
Casey: I think you never really know what’s happening behind the scenes, but not really. As soon as I got back the pink buff and looked around and saw that I was in the minority, I thought I was in trouble.
TV WEEK: You were visibly shocked when Harry handed over his idol, what was going through your head at that moment?
Casey: It’s interesting because off camera just before that tribal, Abbey came and said to me that Janine had an idol and if Harry played an idol they would play Janine’s idol for me. So when that whole tribal council was unfolding I could feel that things were shifting and I wasn’t answering questions very well. And then when Harry played the idol, I looked over to Abbey and Janine to say ‘What’s going on? Are you going to play the idol?’ and there was absolute silence from them.
Then it got me thinking, because they didn’t play the idol was it that I answered the questions really poorly and they distrusted me or was that a really interesting strategy because they didn’t think I’d vote the way they asked me to.
Abbey told Casey that Janine had an idol that they would play for her should Harry play his.
(Image: Network Ten)TV WEEK: You seemed to be playing for both the Champions and Contenders but were trying really hard to get in that Champion alliance. Do you regret telling them about Harry’s idol?
Casey: Another thing that unfolded that hasn’t been shown (obviously because there’s not enough time in the episode) is that when they moved across, my strategy the whole time was to buddy up to the girls and to try and gain trust with them by basically telling them everything so that they would think I was worthy of taking through to merge to help them get rid of some of the Contenders from the other side.
I had every intention to do that and I know that as the episode unfolds it looks like I’m playing both sides of the field but really the way I was doing things was trying to keep Matt and Harry on board so they wouldn’t vote me but really I was trying to buddy up with the girls and I genuinely wanted to play with them.
As soon as we got over there, all of the ex Champions were unstoppable and they wanted us gone so the only way that was going to change was if someone had an idol. I hadn’t watched the show before so I think I was looking in all the wrong places for a clue so for me it was all about trying to build relationships.
Seeing as she couldn’t find an idol or an idol clue, Casey’s strategy was to build relationships with the Champions.
(Image: Network Ten)TV WEEK: For someone who has never watched the show, what motivated you to apply for Survivor?
Casey:Just before going on Survivor I’d been living in a campervan for just over two years travelling around Australia and I guess it was like my next step was to see how can I push myself and how can I test my resilience.
You can’t really prepare for it because it’s unlike anything else but I will say that living in the jungle and having small amounts of food to eat and being constantly dirty were things I was very ok with. It was interesting because I found the challenges really difficult and I wouldn’t say I enjoyed them as much as the other contestants. It seemed like that was why they were there whereas I was there to test if I could live in the jungle.
Casey applied for Survivor to see how much she can push herself.
(Image: Network Ten)TV WEEK: You didn’t seem to participate in many challenges, is that why?
Casey: I sat out of six challenges which was quite a lot considering the amount of times I was there, partly because our team kept on winning so we’d have to sit out more than one person, we had to sit out three people at one point.
My thinking was that I was one of the physically weaker challengers playing and it was almost a strategic move where I didn’t want to go into a challenge and take that position from someone who was obviously going to do a better job than me because if we then lost immunity then I would definitely have my head on the chopping block.
Instead I would always volunteer to sit out and everyone else wanted to do the challenges so much more than me so that’s just what ended up happening. You could see this real eagerness and confidence from a lot of those people and so I definitely didn’t want to take out that spot for them who were living for that opportunity.
TV WEEK: Was your strategy to play a low profile and fly under the radar until merge?
Casey: It’s funny, I actually don’t think I did keep a low profile, maybe I haven’t been shown that much. I think everyone tried in some way to fly under the radar but knowing my personality I knew that probably wasn’t going to be the case.
Even on day one when I messed up to help coordinate the building of the shelter and everyone got p—ed off at me then I thought ‘Here we go, I’ve really messed up here,’ and I think throughout the time there were significant events that made people question whether or not I was a team player.
Even though I probably felt the least safe going into the tribe swap, there was no point where I was ever confident that people were wanting to keep me around.
Casey says she doesn’t think she kept a low profile on the show.
(Image: Network Ten)TV WEEK: You lasted 24 days, what was your biggest achievement?
Casey: I think just the ability to live in the most extreme conditions and feel quite mentally sound. I expected that there would be moments where I’d cry and I really didn’t have that at all. I got along with everyone really well, I really enjoyed my time and I think I almost relished living that lifestyle, it was really fantastic.
TV WEEK: Who were some of your favourite camp mates?
Casey: It’s a really interesting dynamic because you’re putting people who are all quite different from different walks of life into a camp together where you also ultimately can’t really trust them. I think most of the friendships I developed have been outside of the game because at the time I didn’t know who I could trust but having said that I’d say the people I got close to were Andy and Daisy.
I was really shocked watching the series play out and seeing Andy positioned as a villain. he’s obviously very good at what he’s doing because I found him really relatable, I had some amazing conversations with him and he was the person I always hoped to take to the end.
WATCH: Andy is the ultimate Survivor superfan. Post continues after video…
TV WEEK: If you could re-do your Survivor experience, would you do anything differently?
Casey: I think I would like to have participated more in those challenges but having said that I think had I done that I may not have stayed in the game for as long as I did. You never know what’s going to win it for you or lose it for you and I guess that’s why hindsight is such a great thing.
TV WEEK: Who would you like to see be crowned Sole Survivor?
Casey: I still want Andy to win but again when you spend so much time with someone, you naturally form a bond with them so to me that just makes sense. However based on what I’ve been watching, I know he’s not really making many friends in his new tribe so unfortunately I’m not sure how much longer he’s going to be around.
Any of the Contenders I would love to win, I really enjoyed my time on the Contenders’ tribe. I did find it really hard to try and blend into the group of ex Champions and as you can see when you watch now, they’re the best of friends so there was no chance of getting in there.
The alliance between Janine, Abbey and Pia is stronger than ever.
(Image: Network Ten)TV WEEK: Is Janine really the Godmother of the tribe?
Casey: I don’t think she’s dictating what needs to happen but I do think that people are looking to what she has to say and that she has quite a play on what happens.
TV WEEK: Do you reckon she could take it?
Casey: I hope not! I think that people are onto her, I think it was a very clever move of Harry’s to point out that she’s such a strong player and hopefully that benefits his game moving forward.
