Exclusive: Jeff Varner talks 'Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance' (Part 2)

Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance's Angkor tribe snuffed Jeff Varner's torch during Season 31's fourth episode Wednesday night on CBS.


Varner, who previously competed on Season 2 dubbed Survivor: The Australian Outback, became the fourth castaway voted out of the game. His Angkor tribe ousted him via a 4-1 vote instead of Yung "Woo" Hwang at their second Tribal Council session on Night 11 of the game.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Varner talked about his Survivor return and overall experience. Below is the concluding portion. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: How would you respond to allegations from your Angkor tribe that you were lazy around camp and didn't contribute much?

Jeff Varner: When we got to Angkor, [Peih-Gee Law], [Abi-Maria Gomes] and I were the only ones who went fishing. Woo never went into the water. [Tasha Fox] wouldn't go into the water. Tasha, all she did was boil a pair of panties and cut up a pepper. She didn't do anything.


The shelter that kept us warm and dry the day it was raining, I built by myself with zero help from anybody -- in the middle of the night. Nobody would help me. So I was a little irritated for them to say I was lazy and laid around and slept all the time, because that's the opposite of the truth.

Reality TV World: What was your plan come the merge? You had an alliance built with your old Ta Keo tribe yet kept swearing your loyalty to the new Angkor tribe.

Jeff Varner: I was very loyal to the old school -- [Terry Deitz] and [Kelly Wiglesworth]. Every decision I made was to get the three of us further. Every time the alliance would say, "Let's get rid of Terry," or they started complaining about Terry, I would always pull him to the side and tell him what the deal was.

Kelly and I took long walks all the time. Kelley Wentworth and I were very close. So my goal was to get back to the merge and get back with Kelly, Terry, the other Kelley, and have Abi with us and maybe Woo if we could drag him along. We'd just be a terror. But, you know, it didn't work out that way.

I was devout to my alliance with Terry and Wiglesworth, and I'm proud of the fact I stuck with them even though it cost me my game. I think on some level, I played a Blood vs. Water game with Wiglesworth. Looking out for her as much as I was myself got me. I won't do that next time, if there is a next time.


Reality TV World: At the start of the game, I believe you said Spencer Bledsoe was probably going to win and you pretty much deemed him the biggest threat. After playing with him for a little while and spending time with some other castaways out there, did you walk out of the game feeling the same way and having that same perspective?

Jeff Varner: Yes. Spencer, in my opinion, was the biggest threat out there. And I had him gone Episode 2 if [Shirin Oskooi] hadn't have popped up and started defending Spencer and throwing my name out there.

Spencer would be gone! One of my biggest, proudest moments of being in this show was in Episode 2, I got rid of one of the strongest, strategic threats in Shirin and I made Spencer cry. (Laughs) That's a victory for me!

Reality TV World: Was there any talk of hidden Immunity Idols while you were out there? Did you suspect someone had found one and what was your reaction when you discovered they were being hid in the middle of the Immunity Challenges?

Jeff Varner: Well I didn't know that until we got home, but yeah, everybody was tearing the beach up looking for an idol. I did, especially in Angkor. I was all up and down that beach, digging and -- they didn't show any of this, but I think there were several times in Angkor I was so close to a clue, so close. I could feel it!


I would get to a certain point and then all of the cameras would come around me and I'd be like, "It's got to be right here!" And then Tasha would come down through the woods: "What are you doing, Jeff?! What are you doing?" And just blow it all up. She annoyed me so much out there.

Reality TV World: (Laughs) I was going to say it sounds like you weren't Tasha's biggest fan.

Jeff Varner: (Laughs) I don't think she's mine either! But I love Tasha. I don't have any hate or anger. I'm not bitter at all, but her game was a nasty one and I hope it catches up to her.

Reality TV World: A lot of Survivor fans have really loved and enjoyed your return to the show, asking why it took producers so long to bring you back. But Jeff Probst explained you basically had an open invitation all along. You said in your final words that you let your passion cook for 15 years. Why so long and why come back now?

Jeff Varner: Well I did not know I had an open invitation. That's nice to hear! (Laughs) But I was in the mix several times throughout the years. I've been a news anchor for 14 years, and when you have that kind of a job, your bound by a contract for 2-3 years or however long you sign for. I was just the property of a station somewhere and they wouldn't allow me.


When I got the call, I was in between jobs and I went for it, but then they pulled the rug out and changed the contest and I didn't get in. So there have been several times throughout the years that I've been right there on the edge of having it but it just never really worked out. If I had an open invitation, nobody ever told me. (Laughs) I probably would've called them several times.

Reality TV World: Your Angkor tribe had a miserable time after the swap due to the lack of food and shelter. Was your return really everything you hoped it would be? I know Spencer made a comment about how castaways brag Survivor is an amazing experience until they get back out there. Were you kind of thinking to yourself, "Why did I put myself through this again?"

Jeff Varner: No, I never once thought, "Why?" It was so difficult, so much harder than The Outback. I knew it would be. I knew it was going to be a faster game. I was prepared for it; I was ready for it. I hit the beach running. I was in control for a lot of the time. I'm very proud how 15 years out of the game, you wouldn't have even known it by the time I got in there.

It just sort of came natural and organic to me. I can't explain it. It was God given. God just took me by the hand and led me in, and it all worked out for me the way it should have -- including my exit. I'm not bitter about it at all.

Reality TV World: I want you to elaborate more on the differences between your two experiences playing the game. You made it clear new-school players talk strategy right away while old-schoolers just want to build the shelter and find food right off the bat. What else? And which style of gaming do you prefer?


Jeff Varner: Well, I've always been a new-school player, even when I played years ago. I was the strategic one wanting to kick it into gear and nobody wanted to. But the old-school way of playing is, you know, that's what you do.

And if you don't work, you get voted out, and I knew when Shirin pulled me into the woods and said, "We're going now," [and I thought], "This game is going! And I'm not going to build that shelter! I'm going to build this alliance." And I'm glad that I did.

I think the old-school way and the new-school way are vastly different and I hoped I showed future old-school players when they get the chance to screw the shelter! Sleep on the ground. (Laughs) Build your shelter after you're there for three days. You don't want to be the first one out.

Reality TV World: Just to make sure, it sounds like you'd definitely like to play Survivor again?

Jeff Varner: Are you kidding?! I would give my eyeteeth to play again. I need to go back and do it again! I need another chance.

Fifteen years is a long time to wait, and because I had that long of a time to cook and percolate, I was emotional and everything was just coming out of me without any kind of thought process. It just was organic. Next time, I'll be much smarter about my choices. And I hope there is a next time.


Reality TV World: On the topic of making smarter choices, I was going to ask you what you'd change about your gameplay if given the opportunity to compete on Survivor again.

Jeff Varner: I would change everything! But you never know until you land on that beach what you're going to do. So, I think next time, I probably won't be planning and plotting so much. I'll just deal with it when I get there. I think that's a smarter way to roll.

To read the first half of Varner's exclusive interview with Reality TV World, click here.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski