Here’s our Q&A with Stephen Fishbach, who played his advantage to steal Joe’s vote at tribal council…and was still voted out thanks to an alliance betrayal by Spencer. It was a huge move that definitely changed the game, and Stephen was more shocked than anyone about how it all went down:
What surprised you most when you watched live?
I was surprised that Spencer was the one…One, that he was the one spearheading it. He always portrayed to me that he was going along with what people wanted. The fact that he was so focused on getting me off was surprising. And two, at how good a job Kelley Wentworth was doing at keeping everyone in line.
What shocked you so much about Spencer flipping?
Even earlier in the day, Jeremy had said, ‘Something’s up with Spencer.’ I was like, ‘Absolutely not. Spencer’s with us. It doesn’t make sense for Spencer to flip.’ Why would Spencer go with that group instead of ours? It made sense for Spencer to want to be with us. All the people over there are good in challenges — Keith, Joe, Wentworth. And here’s me and Kimmi. And I just thought it didn’t make sense for Spencer to flip.
What was most different for you playing the second time around?
I think two things were most different. First, I was coming in with a reputation. Last time I played, I really tried to play up my awkwardness and geekiness and play down the strategic parts of it. And I think coming in this time, everyone was threatened by me. It was really hard. And the quality of the people we were playing against — people are so much better this time. Everyone was playing so hard and playing to win. That makes everyone seem so much worse by comparison.
After Jeremy played his first idol to save you, did you or anyone else begin to suspect that he had another?
People say that, but I don’t get that at all. That doesn’t follow me at all — Russell [Hantz] played his one idol for Parvati [Shallow] on Hereos vs. Villains. It was an aggressive, smart way of playing an idol. I could’ve never made the leap into thinking he had a second one.
Who do you think is the biggest threat left in the game?
Jeremy’s obviously the biggest threat left to win: He’s playing an amazing game. Everyone knows he’s a threat, he’s a firefighter, and he has two kids. That’s always going to be his problem, that people realize what a jury threat he is. Someone like Joe, my feeling was, if Joe can make it through one tribal and not be eliminated, then good on him. And Wentworth has a good resume — she’s made a few big moves, she hasn’t pissed anybody off, she’s been nice to everybody. And this is going to be counterintuitive, but Kimmi is a threat. She plays a solid game, she works hard at camp and she has a powerful story. Basically anybody left at this point could have a chance to win….except Abi Maria.
Would you do another season?
NO! Absolutely not!
What about Big Brother or The Amazing Race?
I think my reality TV days are probably behind me. I think my family would kill me if I went on reality TV again!
HollywoodLifers, were you shocked when Stephen got voted off? Who do you want to win this season of Survivor?