After Survivor SA on Sunday evening I was busy-busy getting up to things through the night and by about 7:30am on Monday morning decided I needed to crash for a couple of hours.
I was dozing off in between sleep and that freaky falling thing that happens just before you drift off when next thing my cellphone rang and who should be on the other end but
Horse!
Survivor SA’s Brigitte Willers. Ha - you can imagine my surprise ‘cos I was convinced she was on Dead Man’s Island and wouldn’t be able to mutter a word about anything until she’s either out of the game or the winner so I hadn’t anticipated having a chinwag with her until then.
In my sleepy state I tried to work out what was going on and discovered that I could chat to her about anything that’s happened in Survivor so far but that I couldn’t ask anything about what happens next nor the jury.
I also couldn’t get her opinion on who she’d like to see win, which suggests she’s defs in on who the final two are - apparently all's gonna be revealed about why she’s broken her silence next week.
As you can imagine I didn’t have one clue what the stuff was going on but of course there was noo ways I was gonna let her get away without getting as much juice as I could for us.
Tashi: Hey Brigitte, first up - what was your feeling when you heard you were going to Dead Man’s Island and weren't out of the game?
Brigitte: I was initially a bit - not disappointed - but I was mentally prepared for something else. I wanted my hamburger and chocolate milkshake at that stage and I got a deserted island instead so it was a bit of a surprise, but I was very happy to be able to get a second chance at getting back into the game.
Tashi: What’s the island like?
Brigitte: It’s very tiny, it’s 5 by 10 metres I think. I initially said it takes about 10 minutes to walk around the island but it actually takes less. There wasn’t much beach - when the tide comes in it takes away the whole beach so when it’s in you’re left with very little. It was lonely and there was also no food or resources on the island.
Tashi: What did you
do in the three days you were there?
Brigitte: That’s the point - you do nothing, for the whole day and whole night and again and again. Three days can feel like an eternity.
Tashi: Did you actually eat?
Brigitte: No, for three days I didn’t eat anything.
Tashi: I thought so ‘cos it looked like you hadn’t done anything. Why didn’t you try?
Brigitte: During the mud challenge when the buckets were weighed - I tried to dig really deep where the heavy mud was and there were rocks and things in between the mess at the bottom and I ripped off most off my fingernails on both hands so I couldn’t hold a flint or do anything really and that was a bit of a problem.
Tashi: I imagine you knew it would be Mzi who join you next?
Brigitte: Yes, I was kind of hoping for that. Not only because he’s so resourceful - he knows exactly what to do and I'm not really shy of saying that because everybody knows Mzi is the ultimate Survivor so ja, I was hoping he would be next. He’s always a good motivator so I was kinda hoping for him.
Tashi: In terms of what’s been happening with the old Aguila - you all seem to have accepted your fate so willingly. Why didn’t try to turn the tables more - especially with Zane, I mean he’s soo on the edge, why didn’t you all do more to get him voting with you to shift the power?
Brigitte: As you saw, Zayn really didn’t want to vote Mzi out but he was pretty set on his promise that he made to the former Rana members. He actually made that very clear, that he was non-negotiable.
Tashi: So wasn’t there anything else you could have tried?
Brigitte: Oh we did try, I mean I don’t particularly love Lezel and Jacinda and I was much nicer to them than I usually would have been but it became very apparent that their plan was to vote each of the Aguila members out.
Tashi: Onto Nico and your notorious relationship with him. What was it about him that you loathed so much?
Brigitte: I just think it was all his little mannerisms that he had. You just come across people that you just don’t gel with and it was just the way it was. If you don’t live with him you wouldn’t understand. Just his ittle comments and he was extremely negative and he didn’t work hard or do anything really. I still think so ‘cos I was there. That’s basically it. I’m sure he’s a very nice guy under different circumstances but when you’re stayig ith that guy under one tiny little roof – it’s not very easy.
Tashi: And Danielle? The whole thing of: “When the two of us met our eyes locked across a crowded room” - we all want to know what that was really about.
Brigitte: I seldomly connect with a lot of people, like Danielle and Sam were two people I really connected with and I feel passionate about those things so I didn’t think about it like that, that the way I was describing it would sound so weird. You must also understand that I am Afrikaans and the things that I say isn’t usually the right way to describe it - it’s just the way it came out.
Tashi: So there was no lesbo action?
Brigitte: Eish man, hehe, I’ve got a very handsome boyfriend and I love him a lot so no I don’t think so.
Tashi: And Sam - ooh yes, Sam. Were you playing him?
Brigitte: No definitely not. I knew he was gonna get voted out and I was going back into that tribe and I still stuck with him and voted for Vanessa even though Jude asked me to vote for Sam and I said I wasn’t going to. No, I wasn’t playing him at all.
Tashi: So what do you think of all the controversy with him saying that his wife was so upset blah blah.
Brigitte: It’s understandable. The way it was portrayed in the programme it would upset anybody that was in a relationship - in a marriage for that matter.
I also would have been but it was blown out of proportion a bit. I don’t think that it was so serious. People have their opinion on what they perceive.
Tashi: So you’re saying there was nothing romantically more to your relationship?
Brigitte: No, if anybody had to meet him they’d see that he’s such an amazing, honest, wonderful personality so it’s difficult not to be friends with him.
Tashi: Nico mentioned that when everyone arrived at the start of the game you made it very clear that you’re an FHM model and showed people yourself in a magazine. Is that true?
Brigitte: Well basically, the FHM, when we left for Panama … sorry … um … I’m not allowed to speak about anything that happened before we got to Panama.
Tashi: Uh, okay. Obviously we don’t know what’s gonna happen next but if you were to do anything differently up until the point we’re at - is there anything you’d do differently?
Brigitte: Yes, if I’d known how much pain the Sam-thing would cause his relationship with his wife I wouldn’t have befriended him. That’s the only thing. Nothing to do with game would I have changed because I was just being myself and if that’s not good enough, then it’s just not good enough.
Tashi: Are you happy with the way you’ve been portrayed? Do you feel it’s a proper reflection of you?
Brigitte: No it’s definitely not me at all. I don’t feel like I was portrayed the way I am but you know, you can’t help these things. I mean Nico for example, I said a lot of nice things about him as well that wasn’t shown so I’m not that big a tyrant or bitch or whatever and I think what a bit … ja.
Tashi: Yes, I was gonna ask what it was specifically that you didn’t think was you.
Brigitte: Well, first of all, it was something that Jude said in the beginning. I think her comment was : “It’s just Baywatch,” and that I couldn’t stop talking about how I good I look in a bikini and all that.
I was actually very surprised that she said that because that’s not in my personality at all. I think that should answer your previous question about Nico and him saying I was showing people pictures of myself in FHM. I’m not that type of person at all and I don’t think I’m hot or gorgeous or whatever at all.
Tashi: Then why would Jude have said that?
Brigitte: I think Jude was a bit ... I don’t want to say jealous ... but jealous. I don’t know why else she would have said it and I think, I dunno, the thing with Nico, I think he was also maybe upset because I wasn’t paying any attention to him and I was giving everyone else attention, so I don’t know.
Tashi: Did Jude surprise you the most? Who’ve you been most surprised by watching the footage now?
Brigitte: Initially, ja, Jude surprised me a lot because I’m a bit naïve and I didn’t realise she didn’t like me or anything like that. When she said that it was a bit weird for me because I was one of the only people who knew what her husbands name is and what her kids names are, her dogs and whatever.
I was actually interested and asked her about those things. Jacinda as well, about two episodes ago she said that I was gatkryping with her which I wasn’t, I was just chatting to her because I hadn’t spoken to anybody else for the last 27 days so it just made sense to chat to other people.
I think she said to Lezel I was asking her about her boyfriend and whatever but that’s just normal when you’re with people.
Tashi: But you and Jacinda have an enemy thing going on.
Brigitte: I didn’t really think so. I didn’t think I was any competition to her. When I said I want to kick Jacinda’s ass - I was just keen on healthy competition, it wasn’t something personal. In fact I think Lezel is the person I liked the least on that island.
Tashi: Why?
Brigitte: I just find her very snakey. She was very sly and when we arrived on the island she was the only one not to give Mzi or myself the time of day.
Ends.