Exclusive Survivor: Cook Islands Interview: Adam

by Staci Krause

IGN.com - 12.20.06

We talk to the last member of the Raro tribe standing about Candice and the challenge.

Survivor: Cook Islands held its finale and reunion show on Sunday night. Adam was the first casualty of the show when the Aitu four stayed strong and voted off the last remaining Raro tribe member and the last non-minority. He didn't go out without trying to shake things up with the final four and make his mark on the game. He tried to convince Sundra and Ozzy to take the immunity idol out of the game, but they didn't bite.

We talked to Adam about playing Survivor. He told us what he found to be difficult out there, what he thought of the major twists and what he's up to now.

IGN TV: How did you come to be on the show?

Adam: I was recruited. Someone who knew the head of casting just came up to me and approached me about it and it just went from there. That's how it got started.

IGN TV: When you got there, was it what you expected?

Adam: I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know it was as real as it was. I thought throughout the day we'd have some truck time every morning to take a shower. I didn't realize it was completely real. It definitely was something of a shock. I didn't know what to expect for the most part.

IGN TV: Had you seen the show before?

Adam: I've seen it a few times, but that's it. I'm not a big fan of the show. I've watched some of the first seasons and when I went through the process of trying out for it, I watched it then, but that's it.

IGN TV: What was your initial reaction when you found out about the division along racial lines?

Adam: I was a little surprised that they would do that. It didn't matter to me, I just thought, I was a little surprised. I know it's a touchy subject to some people.

IGN TV: Were you worried about being stereotyped?

Adam: No. Uh, no. I never was a really big fan of the show, so I didn't really know what to expect. I just kind of went out there.

IGN TV: How do you think the show represented you and your personality?

Adam: I think very well for the most part. I mean, of course, editing changed things around. For the most part, it was fair, I thought. I was happy for the most part.

IGN TV: Is there anything you wish you could have done differently?

Adam: I think 19 of us are going to say yes. Everybody but Yul. (laugh) Of course, I would have liked to have made some changes. But I ended up in fifth place, which I'm really happy about. Of course, I would have liked to have gone further. I think the biggest mistake I made was keeping Jonathan around instead of Jenny. I don't think Jenny would have flopped like Jonathan did. I think if he had approached Jenny like he did with Jonathan, Jenny would have come back to us and talked to us about it figured out a way around it. I think she would have stuck with us.


IGN TV: Were you surprised when Candice and Jonathan mutinied?

Adam: I wasn't surprised that Candice mutinied. I was a little bit about Jonathan. But Candice, I thought she would come over. In fact, I was wondering what took her so long. She took too long.

IGN TV: So were you jealous when you heard about Billy's love for Candice?

Adam: (laughs) Uh. Candice is right here and I'm getting a hard time. Was I jealous? No. (laughs) I never met Billy until I came out here, until the other day for the show. He was voted off when he was in a separate tribe. I think Candice was shocked about the whole situation when she found out about it.

IGN TV: Did you and Candice try to continue a relationship outside of the show, or was the magic gone once you had food and beds?

Adam: Was the magic gone? (laughs) Candice and I are good friends. We obviously connected on the island and it's tough in a game like that, finding someone you can trust. And I trusted her and she trusted me and of course things developed from there. She lives on the East Coast. I love on the West Coast. It's a completely different world out here. But yeah, we're good friends. She's a great girl. We have different lives. We connected out there on the island and we had a relationship out there. She's my buddy.

IGN TV: You had some harsh words for Jonathan, saying he didn't deserve to be there and that he was a cancer. How do you feel about him now ?

Adam: I'm cool with Jonathan. I like everybody on the show. I don't have any issues with anybody. Of course, while I was out there, I didn't get along with him obviously. I mean, you are around these people 24 hours a day. You are always around them. It's not like you can go to your room and get away from them for a while. So of course personalities are going to clash and we obviously clashed. He clashed with a lot of people actually, but I don't have any issues with him outside of the game.

IGN TV: It's been rumored that you hinted to your other tribemates that you had the immunity idol. Was that true?

Adam: Candice told me that Jonathan thought that I had the idol and she said that was a big reason why he followed her with the mutiny because he wanted to follow the idol. So knowing that information and wanting to keep Jonathan close to us and keep him with us on the tribe, I went along with it. I never told him I had the idol, I just kind of hinted to it sometimes. Like for instance, on that episode when he talked about the scenario of the possibility of Yul having the idol, on the show I said Yul doesn't have the idol. I didn't say that because I didn't think there was a chance that Yul had the idol. I'm not stupid, I realize there was a chance he had the idol. I just wanted to imply that there was no chance that Yul had the idol because I would have it. I wanted to do that without telling him that I had the idol. I didn't think anybody had the idol. I knew Candice didn't have it and I knew that Jonathan was trying to follow whoever had it so obviously he didn't have it. I thought there was a chance that Yul had the idol but I thought it was still out there.

IGN TV: What was the hardest thing for you?

Adam: Not eating. Just not eating. And also being separated from the rest of the world.

IGN TV: What are you up to now?

Adam: Well, I'm going back east for a while to spend some time with my family for about a month and then I'm coming back to San Diego and I'm going to figure it out. That's a good freakin' question. You can look me up on MySpace. I don't know what the exact thing is but you can look me up, search me.