Exclusive: Carter Williams discusses 'Survivor: Philippines' (Part 2)

Carter Williams was voted out of Survivor: Philippines' merged Dangrayne tribe during Wednesday night's twelfth episode of the CBS reality series' 25th edition.


Carter, a 24-year-old track coach from Shawnee, KS, was voted out of his tribe at the season's twelfth Tribal Council, which was also the sixth elimination vote for Dangrayne, after most of his tribemates determined he was a big threat in physical challenges and due to his solid social game.

In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Carter talked to Reality TV World about his Survivor: Philippines experience.

Below is the concluding portion of Carter's interview. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: You were shown saying in your final words that Malcolm Freberg, Michael Skupin, Lisa Whelchel, and Denise Stapley were "playing with their heads, not their hearts, at this point" and you said you understood it but it hurt. Had you have been in their position, would you have done the same thing? It just seems like at this point in the game, playing with your head is the smarter move, you know what I mean?


Carter Williams: Oh, exactly. And this is the point of the game where it really starts getting difficult, and no, I don't blame them. If the roles had been reversed and we had voted out Malcolm, then it's like, Malcolm would've said, "Wow, they were smart."

Reality TV World: Yeah, I was going to ask about that. Things obviously ended up changing once Malcolm won Individual Immunity, but last night's episode showed Lisa and Skupin wanting to blindside Malcolm and having you and Abi-Maria Gomes join them. What was your reaction when they approached you with that plan? Were you surprised or had you been part of the plan but viewers just didn't get to see that?

Carter Williams: Yeah, Skupin came to me and actually told me that, and he was just kind of like, "Hey man, you're not out of this. Don't give up hope. Lisa's kind of opened her eyes." He kept saying, "Lisa's ready to play this game. Lisa's ready to play this game." And you know, they've been trying to get that guy out for awhile.

Had Lisa blindsided Malcolm last night had he not won immunity, that would've been an awesome play. And a lot of people would've been sad, but that would've been a great play. Lisa could've sat there and said, "Look, I got that guy out." And so, Malcolm could've very easily went and said, "Wow, they lied to me. They're playing with their heads and not their hearts. That hurts, but I understand it."

Reality TV World: Jonathan Penner obviously seemed to be your major ally in the game and he was voted off at the prior Tribal Council. What did you do after he was voted off -- was there anything that you tried to do or did after that that we didn't see on TV, or was it just that numbers-wise the game had gotten so small you didn't see there was a lot left that you could do?


Carter Williams: Well at first, people are coming up to me going, "Hey don't worry. We're going to get rid of Abi, not you, and then we'll get rid of you at five." (Laughs) And Malcolm's trying to keep me calm basically trying to keep me from trying to make anything happen, which was great on their part.

But obviously I'd catch wind of it and it just made more sense for that to happen. So the play we had set up was designed to get rid of Malcolm, and when that kind of fell short, then I was trying to get them to get rid of Abi. But it just -- yeah. So, I did have a plan. It got messed up by Malcolm winning immunity, you know?

For whatever reason, they didn't get rid of Denise. I don't think people saw her out there as maybe that big of a threat. I think Penner did, but I don't know if people at this point have truly recognized how big of a threat she is. 

Reality TV World: Denise seemed to be another option after Malcolm won immunity -- she was Malcolm's closet ally -- but we didn't see Lisa and Skupin throw that possibility out there at all. Why was that, any thoughts?

Carter Williams: I'm not totally sure. Lisa, yeah, it's very interesting. When Penner went home, he turned to Denise and Malcolm and said, "Congratulations, one of you guys are winning a million dollars," or I think he said, "You ultimately have to choose one of these two." Something like that. And Malcolm was kind of like, "Thanks buddy," like, "Wow, thanks for opening their eyes to what is obvious to other people."


Reality TV World: That was Penner's big argument there, that Lisa and Skupin couldn't beat Malcolm or Denise in a jury vote.

Carter Williams: Yeah, that was what he was saying, and so he was making a case, like, "Take me." So maybe it's a little more of, "I'm a returner. I'm not as well liked." I don't know what he was saying. But yeah, there's time but there's not a ton of time from that Individual Immunity to that Tribal Council, and you know, "The best laid plans of mice and men" -- it just crumbled.

I wanted to make something happen. I talked to Skupin and Lisa when I was saying like, "Keep me. Get rid of Abi." And for awhile, it truly felt like they were going to. And in the Individual Immunity, I said to Jeff Probst, I was like, "Look, if Lisa was watching at home, she would so want to get rid of Abi and keep me." And Lisa said, "Yeah, but I'm not watching from home." And that's kind of when I was like, "Okay."

Reality TV World: Lisa's gameplay seemed like it would be very frustrating out there for you guys. Because even last week when Penner went home, it was completely within her power to keep him around -- all she had to do was change her own vote. But she wouldn't do that and just told Penner he was on the chopping block and then hoped he could rally a vote in his favor elsewhere. And now it sounds like she wouldn't go for Denise but recently decided to go for Malcolm. And next week's previews seem to suggest maybe she's now opening up to getting rid of Denise. What were your general feelings about Lisa while you were out there and was it as frustrating to work with her as it's come across on TV?

Carter Williams: Well first off, I love Lisa. I got to know her really well out there. Like Jeff Kent, I got to know her apart from The Facts of Life, which to me, was really cool. Yeah, you know, it was frustrating because, to go back to maybe saying Lisa was torn between playing with her head and her heart, she was kind of wishy-washy, unfortunately.


And she's kind of telling me and Penner, you know, "I love you guys so much. You're who I want to play with, but Penner didn't shake my hand." And Penner's going, "Who cares. I'll shake it now!" He's going, "Let's make this work." And so, it was frustrating because you could see how torn she was.

I mean, how many times have we seen those big brown eyes watered up with tears? It's like, you would just kind of look into her eyes and go like, "I can see what you want to do. I can see that you think this is a smarter play." And she's going, "Yeah, I do." And we're going, "Then do it." And she wouldn't, you know?

Reality TV World: How were you cast on Survivor: Philippines? How did you end up on the show? It sounds like you sought it out or something?

Carter Williams: Oh yeah, well I actually -- I fell in love with the show by watching [Survivor: Guatemala castaway] Danni Boatwright play, you know, just how she had her back up against the wall and kind of refused to die. And then watching ["Ozzy" Oscar Lusth] in that season of Cook Islands, which Jonathan Penner had a huge role in making Ozzy who he is.

So I was just really drawn to pushing yourself physically and mentally and seeing what you're made of, kind of holding up a mirror and seeing what you have inside of you. So, in Survivor, I fell short. Obviously, everyone who doesn't come out a winner thinks of how they could've done things differently, and you just kind of have to live with what happened.


Above is the concluding portion of Carter's interview. Click here to read the first half.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski