30-year-old PR manager Gena Alkana was voted out of Survivor SA early in the season after her hidden immunity was stolen. Former Survivor Amanda Hoosen quizzes Gena about the theft and the concepts of stealing and lying for the show. Here's what she had to say ...
Amanda: When the tribe shuffle happened and your tribe (very indiscreetly) made it clear that they had snuck you the immunity idol, why didn’t you guard your bag with your life instead of leaving it out in the open?Gena: This question… I wasn’t sure if they (the Utara tribe) knew or not BUT I knew it would cast suspicion if they saw me walking around with my bag.
At that point I really was trying to just “fake it ‘til I make it” knowing good and well they didn’t want me there and that they were watching me closely and waiting for me to prove that I had in fact switched teams.
I did leave it in a place I could see it from anywhere (but the freaking water well). I spent that WHOLE afternoon trying to figure out how I was going to do this. I had hoped that Seletan would throw that challenge!
I knew that David and I were going to be the 1st to go. I also knew and saw that the second we stepped foot on that island, David threw me under the bus. He told Utara about the idol drama, about the Rugrats 6, about how I was part of the core four and we were close so I would definitely switch back if there was a merge.
I knew that if I played that idol to vote one of their players off that night, they’d all hate me a l’il more and then I’d have to spend a horrible day and night on their horrible island just to have them vote me off the next night - even if it meant they had to throw the next challenge in order to do so!
There was NO way they were taking me to merge - they made that crystal clear! So NO not the smartest move following that blue-eyed hottie into the bush, but sadly I think the outcome would have been the same in the end!
Amanda: By the time you left the island, did you know for sure who the culprits were that stole the idol or did you only find out when you watched that episode? Gena: When leaving the island I definitely had my suspicions. By then I had realized that they’d (and by they I mean Shane and Marion) had sent me on that walk with Steven - (smart- knowing I would follow the hot dude into the bush) so that they could steal the idol. I knew this because Shane had been pushing me to “talk” to Stephen all day.
What did surprise me when watching was Sonette and David’s involvement.
That day and even the day before, I had really connected with Sonette - or so I’d thought. We had had some really good chats. As for David - WOW- on the other tribe he’d on more than one occasion come up to me and gone on about how I was the only one who included him and made time to chat to him. So that surprised me when watching!
Amanda: I believe earlier on in the season, you were rummaging through someone’s personal bag also looking for an idol, correct? Therefore, do you applaud the players who managed to successfully steal your idol or do you feel that stealing in the game of Survivor should not be allowed? Gena: Yes that is correct. We (The Rugrats) guessed that Shona or David had the Idol. We'd asked them both and they both denied it sooo we decided to look for it.
The plan was NEVER to steal the actual Idol … that was NEVER our intention - rather to find out who had it and then confront and or FLUSH IT OUT at the next Tribal Council.
Do I applaud the people who stole my idol? Not for a sec. Play the game… follow the rules… do it the right way!
Amanda: Which contestant were you closest with on the island?
Gena: Definitely Moyra and Altaaf - for different reasons though. On sight I didn’t think I’d like or get along with Moyra, but she was so easy to talk to and when chatting we realized we had so much in common - in fact, we knew a lot of the same people.
I’d worked with her sister before, I visit a friend often who lived in the same block of flats before, she goes to the same church as my parents - in fact, our dads worked together for years. Also being out there obviously gets hard and both of us being Christians helped - we’d encourage each other and pray together. I definitely found a life-long friend in Moyra.
Altaaf - again, out of all the guys on our tribe - if you’d asked me up front who I thought I’d align with, Altaaf would have been my last choice - yet I guess when you’re using someone night after night for body heat, you quickly become friends when lying out there talking and trying to fall asleep.
I also appreciated his openness and the fact that he was trying to play the game with as much transparency as possible. Also I loved that it wasn’t always “game on” with him. We could just “chill”
Amanda: You guys ate a LOT of food in comparison to every other season of Survivor SA so I am not sure if this happened to you :) But being in that situation helped me figure out what my absolute favorite food is. Even though I try not to eat it that often, I learned that my favorite food is pizza!! Did your Survivor experience help you figure out what yours is? Gena: I hear so… Gosh I thought they were trying to starve us - Lord knows I’ve never been that hungry before.
I’ve always LOVED eating… and we honestly spent no less than an hour everyday just talking about food. Survivor taught me that YES my love for Zinger wings ... that love’s real, and deep and I cannot get away from it - that love will follow me across oceans.
Amanda: You may or may not know who the final two or final three contestants are but of the remaining contestants, who do you think is least likely to win Survivor and why? Gena: Ohhh no ones asked me that - I think the baddies - call me silly but I’d like to think that “good always triumphs over evil”, So the Shanes and Marions… I don’t think they’ll last - you can’t go through life taking advantage of real people with real feelings (even if it is a game) and expect those same people to turn around and show you love - especially when you do it the way they are.
Amanda: There is a lot of secrecy and confidentiality around the production of this show for obvious reasons. I had to lie to a lot of people about why I was off the grid for so long!! So, who was it hardest to keep your secret from? When all was revealed, how did they find out? Were they shocked? Gena: My girlfriends I guess - I’m generally VERY open - too open, one might say. So they know everything - to keep this a secret was hard … also because I knew they’d be so happy for me. When I got back they all called me on it - knowing that I’d made top 30.
And then my Grandmother. In retrospect though, she says she’s glad she didn’t know - says she’d have probably had a heart attack worrying about me and where I was - even when I was on she cried most weeks because “How can they make my grandchild do all these things- she’s so small”. Yoh I love my Grandmother.
Amanda: Would you do Survivor again? If so or if not, why?
Gena: When do we leave?!
In a heartbeat.
Let’s not lie - there are days when you’re out there and you think “I will never do this again". But even now I wake up some mornings and if I could be anywhere it would be back on that island with my Selatan tribe.
So would I go back- YES!!!!