During Sunday evenings sixth episode of Survivor SA Danielle Vukic got torched a second time in a row when her new Aguila tribe voted her out.
Earlier in the episode Danielle, Vanessa and Brigitte created an alliance of three to get rid of Nico but when it came down to scribbling names on the Tribal Council ballots, the original Aguila stuck together and cast three votes for Danielle and one for Mzi. This vote was cast by Brigitte on Mzi’s suggestion so that she didn’t have to write Danielle's name down.
I caught up with Danielle shortly after the show to see what she had to say about being scorched twice:
Tashi: Hi Danielle. You were struck by a double Tribal Council whammy and you’ve survived?
Danielle: I’ve Suvived. I’m a Survivor. (laughs)
Tashi: What was it like watching the show?
Danielle: It was absolutely fantastic. I think I came across very sweet and I’m glad that they mentioned my sense of humour. It’s very weird watching yourself on TV. You don’t know how you’re going to be portrayed and I was very disappointed in Brigitte but it is a game and it’s just how she handled it but she said good things about me and it was fine.
Tashi: Let’s start with your Rana experience. At the beginning you were firmly on the chopping block because of you being disappointed you weren’t in Aguila, then you managed to save yourself by getting buddy-buddy in tight alliance with Gareth and Jacinda. How did you get them on your side and what happened that they voted you out?
Danielle: Basically I wasn’t disappointed going into Rana but that’s how it came across. Yes, I had made friends with Brigitte and Sam so my expression was of disappointment but also, bearing in mind that I’ve never watched a Survivor in my life, I entered as a joke and really didn’t think I’d get in. It’s much like a man behaves, you know, you like the hunt and when you get the kill you’re bored.
I didn’t know the dynamics of how the game played and I explained that to them. Lezel was the big instigator who basically threw the cat among the pigeons or the pigeon among cats, being me. I explained that I hadn’t watched the game and that I’m not disappointed and I’m happy to be with Rana, I’m a loyal person, I have integrity and I’m with you and I convinced them that that’s how it was and they believed me. I don’t think Lezel did but the rest did.
Tashi: And then they voted you out.
Danielle: We communicated a hell of a lot. It was between Zayn and myself to go into the merge - they needed someone who was physically strong and I’m not physically competitive. At work I thrive on adrenalin but I shut down when it comes to physical adrenalin. I was a weak player and they needed the numbers to go into the merge so that was why and it was discussed. Look, I would like to have stayed but for the tribe it was the best decision.
Tashi: That’s a big compliment for Zayn who hasn’t done anything vaguely spectacular as yet.
Danielle: You know what, he’s not my favourite person but he is physically stronger. He’s got power behind him. I think Gareth ... it was a gender thing in both tribes. If they'd voted Zayn out it would have been three women against Gareth and you know men are weak and insecure. Women are stronger and more manipulative yet women buy into that.
Tashi: That’s definitely happened on Aguila where the women have given their power to Mzi completely and over at Rana all the women have caved in to Gareth. Are the men ruling the game?
Danielle: I think the men are intimidated by the women and insecure but the women are weak enough to buy into that so I don’t know who’s ruling the game but I think women like to be safe and secure. Yes it is a man’s world and I strongly believe that women feel safe with an alpha male around - I think it’s human nature.
I hate to say it but that’s the bottom line and Gareth did the fishing and put things into perspective and Mzi' s a genius – he made the fire, he helped structure the camp, he caught the fish, he made the fishing hooks out of Vanessa’s bracelet - he’s an alpha male and women need that and like it. It’s a power thing. If a man’s got power and he’s in control, it’s an aphrodisiac.
Tashi: How could you never have watched Survivor before??
Danielle: You know why, if 24’s on TV or Lost or Prison Break I never watch it when it’s on. I don’t like my life to be ruled by TV so I normally wait for the whole edition to come out and then I watch the whole thing at once. I’d watch one episode of Survivor but then miss another and it’s the kind of game that you watch because of the characters and the psychology so if you miss one or two you’re lost so I didn’t bother.
Tashi: This will change now after you having been on?
Danielle: Oh, I’ll always watch Survivor from now on.
Tashi: What’s the story with Rana’s lack of competitiveness? Is Gareth right in saying that they lack edgy spirit?
Danielle: Jacinda is very competitive, Gareth’s competitive, Liezl’s competitive – I think everyone is and that it’s just luck of the draw. The challenges were hard and very, very physical. You’ve got a hostage negotiator on the one side, you’ve got Sanele who was like Shaka Zulu and Mzi who’s got the strength and Brigitte who’s a physical trainer who works out fifteen hours a day and then you had us. I’m not saying we weren’t physical but it’s not our life.
Tashi: How blindsided were you by Aguila voting you out instead of Nico?
Danielle: I knew it was coming. I saw a conversation between Mzi and Brigitte. The minute I stepped onto the island Vanessa and Brigitte quickly said: “Listen, this is what's happening, let me put you up to speed. We hate Nico, we want Nico out,” and I was like: “Sure, I’ll vote for him.”
I didn’t have a choice. I should have aligned myself with Mzi a lot more because he’s the mastermind on that tribe but Brigitte and I were pretty close and then I saw that she couldn’t look me in the eye and she was avoiding me directly after a conversation with Mzi and I knew there was gonna be a switch. I knew she wasn’t gonna hold her promise in her alliance with me. When you’re so vulnerable, you’re also more susceptible to things and pick up things a lot quicker.
Tashi: This also involved Vanessa changing her mind.
Danielle: Yes, Vanessa was with Mzi.
Tashi: But her and Brigitte had that conversation about creating a final two alliance until the end.
Daniele: But then Mzi switched Brigitte’s mind and she needs Mzi so if Brigitte didn’t vote how Mzi wanted she would have been out next because Mzi and Vanessa are a lot closer. I’ve seen as much as you’ve seen but from being on the island and seeing what I saw I don’t think the Brigitte and Vanessa alliance is solid. I don’t even think Vanessa likes Brigitte.
Tashi: Oh really?
Danielle: You could see it. Vanessa was getting instructions from Mzi but keeping Brigitte close to her. That’s how I see it thinking about it now.
Tashi: Are you still upset with Brigitte?
Danielle: Ja, I was upset because we had a connection on the little plane going over to the island - the one where I nearly had a heart attack - and when I arrived you could see we had bonded and got on well. I said to her: “You know, we’ll probably be friends after the show but if there’s one thing you gotto be straight forward with me. If you are voting me off, tell me, but don’t be a coward.” It wasn’t that she wasn’t on my side when the vote came but that she didn’t have the integrity to tell me as far as a friendship goes, that's what I expect.
Tashi: So you really thought the plane was mid-crash?
Danielle: Ja, I did, only because they said a plane had crashed the week before which was probably *bleep!* but anyway.
Tashi: Was it only you thought so?
Danielle: Ag, you know the manne were so super cool but let me tell you everybody got a fright. I don’t care what they say -
everybody.
Tashi: If you’d stayed until the merge, would you have betrayed Aguila and hooked up with Jacinda?
Danielle: I would definitely have hooked up with Jacinda. Yup, I would have. I wouldn’t have betrayed Brigitte and I wouldn’t have betrayed Jacinda and I wouldn’t have betrayed Gareth and that's it.
Tashi: So this was in your mind that if you could make it to the merge you’d take Brigitte and hook up with Jacinda and Gareth?
Danielle: Ja, it would have been difficult because Brigitte told me she didn’t like Jacinda so I was in a bit of a toestand there but had it come down to being between Brigitte and Jacinda it would have been Jacinda - but I didn’t tell Brigitte that.
Tashi: Is her not liking Jacinda an alpha chick thing?
Danielle: Oh definitely, definitely, definitely.
Tashi: Jacinda said she thought you would remain loyal.
Danielle: Yes, I wouldn’t have been loyal to Nico, I wouldn’t have been loyal to Mzi, Vanessa, Zayn or Lezel.
Tashi: How come Gareth when he voted you out?
Danielle: He explained it to me and he did it in a nice way and he was good to me. Even though he voted me off he was good to me.
Tashi: Have you been able to speak to anybody since you’ve been back?
Danielle: We don’t speak to anybody. We’re not allowed. I’m dying to but I can’t.
Tashi: What are you gonna say when you see them?
Danielle: When it’s the final party, I think anybody that said anything bad about anyone, it’s all gonna be forgotten. It is a game at the end of the day and I’m looking very forward to seeing everybody. Almost everybody.
Tashi: And who not? - tell, tell.
Danielle: I can’t tell you.
Tashi: Why not?
Danielle: It’s personal.
Tashi: Can you give us a hint?
Danielle: I didn’t like Zayn at all.
Tashi: What rubbed you up the wrong way?
Danielle: I found him very stereotyped, I found him very ignorant in a lot of comments he made and he said some stuff that got to me personally. I can’t tell you what, that’s all I’m saying.
Tashi: We haven’t seen any of that.
Danielle: That’s why it doesn’t matter.
Tashi: Are you disappointed that that footage hasn't been in?
Danielle: Ja.
Tashi: Did you all fall asleep immediately at night?
Danielle: Because we didn’t have fire for ten days the worst part was the sleeping arrangement. It’s like: “Argh, what are we gonna do? We can’t just sit here.” If we’d had fire – fire brings comfort and conversation and warmth so without it there wasn’t much to do so we’d just go and lie down.
Tashi: What did you talk about?
Danielle: Food. And movies and one night we were humming tunes from movies and TV shows and we had to guess which movie and programme they were from. Ridiculous, mindless stuff like that.
Tashi: Did you have any sense of what time you went to sleep?
Danielle: No idea of time. I think we must have slept two or three hours a night, solid. If that, if we were lucky but you’d just fall asleep and then there’d be a crab and then we’d start itching an then someone would move. Night time was our worst.
Ends