Engineer Misty Giles was the third Survivor to be voted out of Exile Island during Tuesday night’s episode when La Mina turned on her in a terrified man-fest way and got rid of her when they shouldn't have.
Quizzy to find out if she was as unimpressed and angered by events as many of us were I caught up with her on Thursday to see if she’s still fuming:
Tashi: It was
very frustrating seeing you get voted out so early. There was just something about you that had me fully convinced you were gonna end up winning. You must have been furious!
Misty: It was extremely frustrating to me. It’s a life lesson that sometimes you can do everything right and still not win the prize. Or feel like you did. I felt like I gave it all I could.
What I didn’t prepare for was the social aspect of the game. I guess I was a little more intimidating than some of the other people on my tribe so the men decided to get rid of me soon. It was bitter-sweet.
Tashi: Yup, there was just nothing you could do to save yourself.
Misty: There wasn’t. It was really shocking to me - it was our first time to go to Tribal Council and I was pretty sure Sally was going home ‘cos she’d lost the spear and made a few other mistakes that cost the tribe but Terry and Dan got together and decided that I was more of a threat than her and that she’d be easier to control than me.
Tashi: Those guys just ganged up so immediately. By the second episode they were already thick as thieves.
Misty: Yes they were. As soon as we merged the men had an alliance and it was clear from the get-go. Sally and I really bonded and I promised her I wouldn’t put her under the water. I’m a person of my word so we were out there just trying to get those younger guys who were easily led astray.
They were handled by Terry - they just wouldn’t make a decision for themselves and make an alliance with us. We
tried.
Tashi: In the first episode Austen was going on a about how he wanted girls to flirt with blah blah and then next thing he was totally hooked up with the guys.
Misty: I
know, that was interesting. I was just so shocked by how Austen and Nick looked up to Dan and Terry, like they were father figures. They would always go to Dan and Terry and I’m thinking: “You’re like a 25 year old adult and you can’t figure things out yourself?!”
I think that’s the difference between men and women sometimes and maybe that’s what hurt me ‘cos I just went on to take care of what needed to be done.
The men pairing up quickly was disappointing - I’d dreamed of playing Survivor since the first episode ever aired. I was gone too quickly.
Tashi: Who’s your fave Survivor of all time?
Misty: I really, really loved Elizabeth from Australia and Neleh from Marquesas.
One of my favourite episodes from any series was in Amazon when Jenna was at that last Immunity Challenge and the men said: “Okay, give it up, one of us will take you,” and she said: “No, let’s fight it out,” and she won. I was really proud of her.
Tashi: Was it the first time you applied to be on the show?
Misty: I’d applied a couple of years earlier but didn’t get a callback or anything and then applied for this one.
Tashi: Once you arrived, was it as you imagined it would be?
Misty: No, no it wasn’t at all. I hadn’t prepared for the aspect of it being such a production. I was just ready to go and get in the game but the TV cameras everywhere. I was naïve and was like, “Woa, this doesn’t work quite like I thought it was going to be.” There was a lot of production and preparation.
Tashi: Did you ever have to redo scenes?
Misty: Um... I don’t recall ever having to do that.
Tashi: On Exile Island, being there all alone as you were, did you flirt with the camera man? Did you look at him? Did you talk to him?
Misty: I tried to talk to him and he was always telling me: “You can’t talk.” I tried to get his food away from him too ‘cos I knew he had food but no, they were very strict.
You’re not allowed to speak to them at all. I would wake up and say “Good mooorning,” and he would ignore me. I’m a talker and I love to be around people and to be sitting on one small island with someone and not be able to speak to them was torture.
Tashi: Did it break the loneliness?
Misty: No, the most challenging aspect of the game that I dealt with was the loneliness from the beginning. Five minutes into the beginning I was stuck by myself and I wasn’t prepared for that.
It was very defeating and I had a hard time making sure I didn’t let my psychology give into that. Like beat myself up thinking that I’d already lost. It was tough but very spiritual.
Tashi: You describe yourself as sexy. What is it about you that’s sexy?
Misty: Ha! I think it’s got a lot to do with personality. I’m a very outgoing and confident person - I love to play sports and a lot of my friends are guys and they called me a tomboy who wears high heels. I was like “Why?” and they said: “Well, it’s because you’re a girl who likes sports and you go camping and you wear high heels and it’s kinda sexy,” and I was like: “Okay, thank you.” They also said they like that I’m not shy saying exactly what’s on my mind.
Tashi: When you got voted out everyone was very sure about it which means they obviously didn’t believe you’d found the Immunity Idol on Exile Island?
Misty: Exactly right. There were two things, they knew that if I’d found it, the person who would go instead was Ruth-Marie and either way they were okay with that.
Nick told the older men that Sally and I were going to vote for Ruth Marie. We didn’t want to vote her out but it was our only option to try to get the men to vote with us. Basically they knew they were safe if I had the Idol.
Tashi: Did anyone ask you if you really had it?
Misty: I got asked every day. I was very vague and didn’t say I had it and I didn’t say I didn’t. I wanted to make sure that I did it that way so I couldn’t be caught in a lie later. Sally knew - I confided in her that I didn’t have it.
Tashi: If you’d stayed what would your strategy have been?
Misty: I look back on it all the time and I can’t stop thinking about it. At the start, when we had our schoolyard pick, if I’d picked someone other than Nick - like Bobby - a different personality who’s not as easily controlled, someone who can make their own decisions I think the dynamics would have been fine.
Nick’s a man’s man and Austen’s a guys guy and Terry and Dan had their alliance and they bonded quickly but if I’d picked someone else like Bobby, I think we could have played very well together. That was the one decision I made that would have impacted on our tribe in a big way.
Tashi: Why did you pick Nick?
Misty: Because Bobby looked like he was hurt, he had a scratched eye and I wanted to pick him but he looked like he was injured to me, his eyes were bloodshot and I wanted someone healthy for our side.
Tashi: Did you leave immediately after you were voted out?
Misty: No, everyone stayed until the end and we all went home together.
Tashi: I thought only the jury stayed 'til the end.
Misty: We all stayed. We didn’t hang out with the jury members at Losers Lodge - all the non jury members got to be together and all the jury members were together.
Tashi: You obviously all discussed what was happening a lot?
Misty: Oh yeah, we were therapy for each other. As each person got voted out they’d have to tell us what was going on. It was hard.
Tashi: Was getting back home afterwards difficult to adjust to?
Misty: It was after living in a Third World Country. It was very, very difficult. I got home and was living in the middle of downtown Dallas where there’s always a lot to do and a lot happening and I had to move out to the suburbs ‘cos I needed quiet time.
Tashi: What are you up to right now?
Misty: I’m working as a reliability engineer - I’m working on a missile programme - and I’m back in school trying to finish up my graduate degree.
Ends