Exclusive: Lindsey Ogle talks quitting 'Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty' (Part 1)

Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty's fifth episode on Wednesday night featured Solana castaway Lindsey Ogle quitting the show after getting into a personal conflict with her tribemate Trish Hegarty.


Lindsey, a 29-year-old hairstylist from Kokomo, IN, also seemingly wanted out of Survivor because she had lost her one ally in Cliff Robinson -- a fellow former Brawn tribe member -- and could no longer stand the weather and hunger elements in the game.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Lindsey talked about her controversial decision to quit and why it had to come to that.

Below is the first half of Lindsey's interview. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: So last night you were shown saying you felt you were probably going to regret your decision to quit. Do you?


Lindsey Ogle: You know, I haven't. There are things about it that I don't -- I didn't really -- now that I had a meal, and you know, slept in a comfortable bed, there are things that you look back on for that 20 seconds, like, "Ahh!"

And then you realize that it was such a larger gap, and no one can really say anything to me that I haven't already fought through -- either when I was on the beach, after the beach, or when I watched it again with the edit.

So there's really nothing that anybody can say that I haven't already fought through, but no, I don't have any regrets. Because, you know, I was there for a reason. I was there to compete, and you know, it was my time to go.

You don't wish physical harm on people, and that was a lesson I wanted to teach my daughter, and she's the most important viewer I had in mind. So I was just to that point where I was going to snap. So, no, I don't have any regrets, because I wouldn't want to beat up some little old lady on a beach.

Reality TV World: Do you think you have some anger management issues or something?


Lindsey Ogle: (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Some viewers think there's also a concern about teaching your daughter a lesson on [a better option than just] being a quitter when things aren't going your way.

Lindsey Ogle: No. I think that it takes a lot of courage to walk away from a fight -- a lot of courage. I think it takes even more courage to walk away from a fight that you know you're going to win, and it definitely takes the most courage to walk away from a fight that you know you're going to win with a chance to win one million dollars.

Anger management is the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard, and I don't know why people are using that, because I was the person to walk away. Do I walk away from my problems? Absolutely not.

I face problems every day. But you have to pick and choose which are significant enough to fight for and I wasn't going to do it -- not fight for physically, but fight for as in, work them out, get them sorted and get them over with.


You're tired, you're cold, you're wet. Those things all come into play, but at the same time, you have to know who you are. It is a game. It is something that you are playing. And I totally get that. There's thousands of people who tried out for Survivor. I'm getting a little bit of flack from that, but it's like, you know what? They chose me for a reason.

I think I did -- well, I know I did -- the right thing. So I'm not worried about what anyone else has to say. And "quitter" is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard as well...

Reality TV World: Why is that? You think you didn't quit?

Lindsey Ogle: I work 70 hours a week, like, (laughs). It's just...

Reality TV World: But how would you label your exit from the game? I mean, you quit the game, right? Are you saying you don't feel you quit the game?


Lindsey Ogle: Oh, I mean, it's a realistic thing. As I said, I did quit the game, but it's the reasons behind it. I mean, I wasn't some wimpy chick that was like, "I want to go! I don't like this! They're not playing the game that I like."

Someone was badgering me. I'm on the Brawn tribe for a reason. I own a hair salon and they put me on the Brawn tribe, like, you have to understand, there's got to be some sort of underlying reason of why they would put someone who owns a hair salon with a six-pack on the Brawn tribe, like, really.

So I did quit, and you know, I feel like it's one of those things that you have to make a decision. And all of our decisions lead us to where we're going, and I'm glad where I'm at and I'm happy that I made the decision. And I know that there's a seven-year-old little girl that's happy that her mom's not a bully and gave into it and fought back physically and used violence to get her way.

Reality TV World: One of the things that's been controversial about your exit is the timing. Some viewers feel it had less to do with Trish and was just an excuse because you weren't interested in playing the game anymore since Cliff had gotten voted out and things basically weren't going your way anymore. How do you address that? Because you quit only hours after Cliff's vote-off and Trish had been there for over two weeks with you at that point.

Lindsey Ogle: Oh right, yeah. That is a good point, and my response to that is that Cliff was like the lone wolf, like he would just go in and out of camp. Him and I obviously got along, but I mean, it wasn't something where I couldn't function if he was gone. That's, I mean, Cliff was barely ever there.


He was always off hunting for crab or trying to look for the idol. He was rarely in any of the social interactions. He kind of did his own thing. He was playing his own game; I was playing mine.

Did any of that have to do with Cliff? Maybe a little bit of fury, like, the shock factor. When there's a blindside on TV, you're like, "[Wow!] Pass the popcorn," you know? But when you're there, it's like, "Oh my gosh." You can kind of look at the expression on my face and realize that it's like, "I can't believe that just happened!"

If you watch back, quitting wasn't even a part of anything that I had in my mind. I said, "You know what? You need to back off, you need to give me just a little bit and let me soak [it all in]." And she just kept going and going and going.

And, you know, I'm not going to beat up some skinny old lady on a beach to make myself feel better, like, she was looking for that kind of response and I think she got a little bit of camera-courage. I think that she felt like she was putting on her big-girl pants and she had everybody on her side.

I didn't care at that point! There's always twists; There's always turns. I've watched enough Survivor that I know in a couple of days, if I laid low and shut my mouth, there's going to be a twist, there's going to be a turn. If our tribe was suffering with trying to get along and really building an alliance, obviously the other two tribes are going to have gaps as well that I could fill in.

So it wasn't one of those, like, "You guys aren't playing the game that I want to! And I quit!" That's preposterous. It was one of those things that, you know, you got to pick and choose your battles. And it was so insignificant, I didn't feel like I needed to do what my body wanted to do primitively to Trish at that time.


Above is the first half of Lindsey's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski