Exclusive: 'Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance' castoff Kelly Wiglesworth talks (Part 2)

Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance's merged Orkun tribe snuffed Kelly Wiglesworth's torch during Season 31's ninth episode last week on CBS.


Wiglesworth, who previously competed on Survivor's inaugural season and lost to Richard Hatch by one vote, became the ninth castaway voted out of the game and the season's third jury member.

The Orkun tribe ousted Wiglesworth via a 6-3-2 vote instead of Kelley Wentworth and Ciera Eastin respectively at Tribal Council on Night 24 of the game. She assumed the majority alliance was just splitting their votes for Wentworth and Ciera.

During a recent exclusive interview with Reality TV World, Wiglesworth talked about her Survivor experience. Below is the concluding portion. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: You said you would've loved to go to the end with Joe Anglim, Kimmi Kappenberg, Keith Nale and Stephen Fishbach. But that was after Andrew Savage, Terry Deitz and Jeff Varner left the game. Did you initially envision an endgame with those three old-school players? Because that was Varner's plan. He almost even blew up his game trying to communicate with you at the end of an Immunity Challenge.


Kelly Wiglesworth: Yeah. (Laughs) You know, Terry, Savage, we never talked about, like, "Okay, Final 2! Final 3. Final whatever." It was very, "Let's get as far as we can get with each other." And that was sort of where we were all at, not wanting to make any promises and have to break them or making any tough decisions.

It was really just, "Let's go as far as we can." But, you know, after Varner's first flip to [Vytas Baskauskas], that was sort of shocking and definitely made me lose trust in him and made me wary of where his head was at. And then obviously, you know, him trying to communicate with me.

And that was shocking because I didn't even know whom he was talking to! I just saw him mouthing words and I turned around and looked behind me and was like, "Are you talking to me? Or are you talking to Terry? Who are you talking to?"

And then he was like, "Well, I'm trying to talk to Wigles!" And I was like, "Whoa, wait a minute. I didn't know. I've got no part in that." And I'm like, "Whoa Jeff, you're kind of blowing it here, dude." So that definitely made me wary of going further in the game with him for sure. 

Reality TV World: It's funny that you didn't even understand what he was saying to you. Clearly nothing good came out of that for Varner.


Kelly Wiglesworth: His mouth was moving and his eyes were wide and I literally could not tell what he was saying. So when he said he was trying to communicate with me, I was like, "I didn't even know you were talking to me. (Laughs) I didn't even know whom you were talking to." So yeah, not only was he blowing HIS game, he was trying to blow MY game too.

Reality TV World: Would you say Abi-Maria Gomes is a goat and therefore basically a shoo-in for the Final 3 because everyone believes no one will vote for her to win? Because people seemed to only want Wentworth and Ciera gone, like it didn't matter if Abi stayed.

Kelly Wiglesworth: Well, I'm not sure. Abi was definitely seen as someone part of their group from the beginning, but everyone kind of saw Abi as, like, "just a number."

She didn't seem to have any loyalty. She would sort of go wherever she felt she would be safe for the night. And, you know, she flipped so many times that it was like she wasn't really seen as a strong threat. She was not really seen as having great social relationships with that many people.

So, yes, she was sort of seen as the goat -- someone to take to the end because they felt they would win against her. And also, it was like, "Well, she can be a number." If someone needs a number, you know, make her feel comfortable and make her feel safe, and then she'll vote with you kind of thing.


Reality TV World: Are you surprised people didn't view Keith as more of a threat? He's close to beating Joe in every Individual Immunity Challenge so far.

Kelly Wiglesworth: Yeah! I am pretty shocked at that. Keith, I think he played a good game. He laid low, he was real friendly, he's a hard worker, and yeah, he's actually really strong in challenges. People didn't really count that, but that definitely worked to his advantage. I mean, he's a strong dude, you know?! And he's doing it in jeans and cowboy boots, man, that's a tough dude. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: You said in your final words that Survivor was a much different game this time around for you and it wasn't really your style. Could you elaborate on that? You're the best person to discuss how Survivor has evolved/changed since Season 1.

Kelly Wiglesworth: Yeah, from Season 1, I mean, there was obviously an alliance. There was obviously scheming and plotting, but that didn't really come about until it had to -- until we needed to -- whereas this time around, it was 30 seconds of landing on the beach, I hear my name as being first out for being a huge threat. And, you know, it was sort of old-school vs. new-school.

As old-school, we were trying to build the shelter and get the fire and get the food and get some coconuts open and boil water, and that type of thing. And new-school, they're in the woods hunting for clues to the hidden Immunity Idol and already talking about throwing challenges and whom to get out.


And yeah, it was just sort of shocking -- the shift in the mindset, like, "Yeah, we don't need to worry about this! We don't need to worry about that. Let's just worry about whom we're going to be against and whom we're going to vote out," vs, "Work together and be a team and try to be strong and get some food and win some challenges so we don't HAVE to go to Council, so we can all get further in the game and worry about that later."

Reality TV World: So it sounds like you didn't really appreciate how cutthroat Survivor is now.

Kelly Wiglesworth: Yeah, yeah! Too much, too quick.

Reality TV World: Do you feel satisfied with your Second Chance, that you'll sleep a little better at night now?

Kelly Wiglesworth: I am. I mean, I'm bummed clearly because I felt like maybe I sort of had more to prove or more to accomplish than anybody else, but you know, I feel like I played a good game. I played an honorable game, like, I can sit and watch this with my son and be proud of how I represented myself and have him be proud of me.


Whereas, you know, you look at it and it's like, "Well, maybe if I had gotten further in the game, I would've HAD to do some pretty shady stuff to get there." And maybe that's not something I want my son to see.

But also at the same time, you're bummed. You didn't win. And you go back, especially me after 15 years, after losing by one [vote], after having that speech from [Susan "Sue" Hawk], you know, you want to go back and win and ride off into the sunset with your idol around your neck! And that didn't happen. So, that's a little bit of a burn.

Reality TV World: Taking all of that into account, would you ever want to play Survivor again?

Kelly Wiglesworth: Would I play again? I'm going to put a big "maybe" with a question mark on that.

Reality TV World: Fair enough. How did you feel about your edit this season? Do you think it was pretty accurate? I feel like you got portrayed as more of a quiet, under-the-radar player.

Kelly Wiglesworth: Yeah, I mean, honestly, I haven't seen it. I don't have the capabilities to see it where I live, but hearing from family and friends, yeah, everyone's like, "Well, they didn't really show you all that much." And yeah, I feel like I maybe didn't get as much time or I wasn't portrayed as strongly.


I definitely feel like I said a lot and I did a lot more than what was actually shown. But also, at the same time, there was so much drama going on that I just wasn't a part of. And, you know, I get it's a show and they really want to focus on the roughness and the drama, and so, part of me is like, "I'm proud I wasn't a part of any of that drama."

Click here to read the first half of Kelly Wiglesworth's exclusive Survivor interview with Reality TV World.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski