Liliana Gomez, Survivor: Fiji
On CBS' Survivor: Fiji (Thursdays at 8 pm/ET), there are the haves and the have-nots. The Moto tribe has been blessed this season with a sweet shelter, plenty of food, a winning spirit and even a cushy bed. But last Thursday, even though Moto won immunity, they decided to give it up, go to tribal council and vote someone off in order to hold onto their beach. And this was just a day after they lost Gary to illness! (See "Papa Smurf's" own Q&A.) TVGuide.com spoke with the victim of Moto's shoddy plan, Liliana Gomez, to find out what the heck her tribe was thinking.
TVGuide.com: I am so disappointed to see you go. You came out so strong.Liliana Gomez: I know,
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Let me tell you why I like Survivor. This show is always willing to mix it up. Call it a course correction, if you will. For example, say you have the brilliant idea to have one tribe live in luxury while the other lives, well, not in luxury, in the hopes that this will make for one kick-ass season. And let's say that as time goes by the rich tribe actually does kick the poor tribe's ass. Repeatedly. You worry that maybe, just maybe, the season could be a bit of a snoozer. What do you do? You course-correct. You whip out a little green bottle with a mysterious note, and you hope for the best. To recap, downtown Ravu has lost every challenge against uptown Moto. Every challenge. This starving tribe couldn't even win last week's food challenge for crying out loud — and let me tell you, Rocky certainly did. For a guy who can't abide whining, he's got that skill down pat. It's bad enough that Rocky morphed into Archie Bunker and started tossing the B-word around (that's "broad" fo...
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Sylvia Kwan, Survivor: Fiji
Much like Survivor: Fiji 's previous eviction (of Erica), Sylvia Kwan's torch-snuffing last Thursday was pretty much caused by one false move. Whereas Erica freaked out in a challenge, Sylvia made the mistake of coming on too strong, too fast. But an ousting from this reality show didn't dampen the spunky 52-year-old architect's spirits for long. She was a bundle of entertaining energy when TVGuide.com caught up with her.
TVGuide.com: You came out of the gate as one of the strongest players. Sylvia Kwan: Yeah, but then I went plbbbbbtt. Really fast.
TVGuide.com: Was your strategy going in to be a leader? Sylvia: No!!! You learn in Survivor 1
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OK, so we had a little action this week. And by little I mean watching Michelle make fire with her glasses. At least we had two challenges instead of the combo immuno-reward thing the show had been sporting for the past weeks. Regardless, Ravu lost both, but still it was entertaining. Perhaps because there were no puzzles to solve. The reward challenge involved grown men and women throwing themselves, face-forward, down a slick mat and then tossing a ball into a basket. Simple? Sure. Enjoyable? You bet. It's not often that you see a person actually try to swim on land and kudos to Sylvia for that brave effort. Yau-Man versus Dre at the net (thank god we're not calling him Dreamz anymore) was unexpectedly nail-biting. The Rita/Cassandra face-off was exciting, but can we please get these ladies some support? You know what I mean. Would it kill Victoria's Secret to sponsor the show and give some of these women Survivor's first underwire buffs?On to the torturous immunity challenge. Yes...
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Erica Durousseau, Survivor: Fiji
Last week on CBS' Survivor: Fiji (Thursdays at 8 pm/ET), Erica Durousseau learned that bossiness was much worse than incompetence. A mere day after she saved her starving and dehydrated tribe by discovering a plethora of pineapples, the Ravu crew decided to oust her simply because she expressed her opinion during a challenge. As a result, a chopping block-bound Sylvia was saved, even though she was deemed a weaker link. TVGuide.com had to find out from the Louisiana native if she thinks that Ravu is just plain hopeless.
TVGuide.com: Did watching your torch snuffing on TV make it really sink in? Erica Durousseau: It did. And to see everything unfold.... It was surprising.
TVGuide.com: Do you think they voted you out just beca
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Forgive me for saying this, but Survivor: Fiji is shaping up to be a little schizophrenic. On the one hand, you have this newfangled show where the living is easy for one tribe. I mean come on, when have you ever heard "I'm full" on this show before any team has won a feast? Then you have the real Survivor. Tried and true, it's the one we know and love and that keeps us watching every season. It's the one where you see a group of hungry, dehydrated people desperately rubbing sticks together to make fire. Nowadays, it's as if I’m watching one show with two different intensity levels. On one level, I felt badly for Boo — even though he is one of the 'haves' — when his hammock broke after his slew of mishaps, but not nearly as intensely as I felt for that thirsty 'have-not' tribe. So I'm a little frazzled. What am I supposed to feel and for whom? It's so easy to root for the downtrodden that I find myself trying not to like Ravu. Who wants to fall for the blatant manipul...
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Jessica deBen, Survivor: Fiji
It is never easy being the first person ousted from a reality show, so Jessica deBen was a little bit sad about getting her torch snuffed last week on CBS' Survivor: Fiji (Thursdays at 8 pm/ET). A fashion stylist by trade, she struggled during the first elimination challenge (untying ropes and puzzle-solving), and the Ravu tribe — already dealt a blow by landing on their beach with neither supplies nor fire — felt she was a weak link and sent her packing. TVGuide.com asked the New Orleans native about her experience.
TVGuide.com: Are you surprised you're the first person out?Jessica deBen: Yeah, I definitely am.
TVGuide.com: Watching it on TV, why do you think they singled you out?Jessica: Look at when I was tying the rope.
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All right, I’m worried. 1) We're coming off of a great season of Survivor: Cook Islands, so Fiji has a lot to live up to, and 2) Burnett is using that whole rich man, poor man accommodations twist that's going on over at The Apprentice. I didn't like it there. I'm concerned about its use here. I mean, It's hard for me to believe that I'm already watching a new season of Survivor. Just six months ago we watched as four strategically separated tribes made their way to individual islands in what was thought to be the most controversial season of the show ever. Now here we are again, watching another diverse group of people begin a month-long journey toward a million dollars. But already there is a difference. Survivor: Fiji, perhaps very deliberately, begins as one nameless tribe of 19. Gone is the hype of Cook Islands that got our attention but fizzled rather quickly. On Fiji, everyone spends their first day in the game building a luxury shelter and sorting themselves out. A l...
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Jeff Probst previews Survivor: Fiji.
One of the much-hyped twists on CBS' Survivor: Fiji, which kicks off tonight at 8 pm/ET, is having one group of contestants lounge in the lap of luxury while another is left with the bare minimum of supplies and no food. Cool concept, but it sounds oddly familiar, because, say, The Apprentice: Los Angeles is employing a similar idea this season. And both shows share Mark Burnett as an executive producer. Just a coinkidink? Survivor host Jeff Probst insists that that is absolutely the case. "Mark runs his shows very independently," he tells TVGuide.com. "I can tell you that this was an idea that was born organically from us, because I was sitting there as we discussed it and decided to do it
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In a candid interview with TV Guide, Melissa McNulty — a talent agent who was poised to be this season's Jenna — details why she bailed out on Survivor: Fiji before the contest even began filming. "I was there in Fiji for almost two weeks before I took myself out of the game," she tells us, revealing that a history of panic attacks ultimately did her in. "My No. 1 trigger is being in a situation where I can't get out. I get a claustrophobia kind of panic," she says. "[In Fiji] I had multiple panic attacks in one day, which I've never experienced before. I tried to pull myself together, but.... "For much more from the Survivor almost-ran, see Interviews & Features.
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