Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X castaway Paul Wachter was voted off his Takali (Gen X) tribe during Episode 3 on CBS.

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Paul, a 52-year-old boat mechanic from Sugarloaf Key, FL, became the third castaway voted out of Season 33 of Survivor on Night 10 at the game's third Tribal Council session.

The Gen X tribe had to vote one of their members off after they lost the game's third Immunity Challenge to the opposing Vanua (Millennials) tribe, resulting in the older tribe's second trip to Tribal Council. Paul said he was "blindsided 150 percent" by his vote-off because he had been anticipating Ciandre "CeCe" Taylor's ouster instead.

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

Reality TV World: If there had been no suspicion about David Wright having an idol, do you think he would've been your alliance's next target instead of Ciandre "CeCe" Taylor?

Paul Wachter: It was either CeCe, David or [Ken McNickle], but those were the three people that were on the chopping block at any given time. And I think at that point, it reverted back to who brought the most to the camp, helping and things like that.

Obviously no one wanted to get rid of Ken because he was great in challenges, he's a great guy, he was a great fisherman, and he's a workhorse. I mean, he really did work hard.

So, you know, I would say between David and CeCe, they would've been chosen next. And CeCe was definitely next after that challenge. I mean, after the challenge, she kind of sealed her own fate, which, like in most Survivors, you think for sure that was an easy decision. But (laughs) it wasn't.

Reality TV World: Tell me more about the health scare you had out there on the island. How long before the attack were you experiencing symptoms?

Paul Wachter: The day before, I was feeling just really tired. I was feeling really weak. I didn't show it, but I could feel it late in the day. You know, you don't sleep at all, you're dehydrated, it's very hot, and we had just gone through all of these escapades with an evacuation and all the rain and, you know, back and forth -- and all of these very strenuous activities that we had to do on top of playing the game.

And the following day, I knew there was something wrong, but it wasn't something I felt I couldn't overcome. I started drinking more water, more and more water. We hadn't been able to boil our water because we hadn't had a fire, so I was drinking more and more water.

But I was sweating so badly that, as I was told later on, the electrolytes, you can drink all the water you want. We shared all our coconuts, we shared everything. So, I was getting one-tenth of what I needed, you know, and I went from, "Okay, I'm feeling a little weak," to I had to sit down and then I was out.

I was just, you know, I was gone. Thank goodness for [Jeff Probst] and that the response team was as fast as they are. You know, once I looked up and saw [the medic Joe] sitting there, I knew that I was going to be okay.

Because it is a very scary situation when you're very dizzy like that and disoriented. When I looked up, I wasn't really sure where I was for a few minutes and, again, I was out of control and I like to be in control.

Reality TV World: It seemed like you were worried you had a heart attack. Was that a concern you came up with on your own or the staff suggested?

Paul Wachter: Well, I think because my hands from my fingers to my elbows on both my hands were numb, I think that triggered Joe's response to look at maybe I'm having a heart attack. I'm not a doctor, so I knew with Joe looking out for me that, you know, whatever they told me about what they thought I should do was in their hands.

They've been doing this for a long time and he's seen this before. If he thought it was just heatstroke, he would've left it alone and he said, "You know what? We're going to check him for a heart attack." And I was scared to death that if they were going to find something, they would've pulled me from the game.

Reality TV World: So how long after that incident were you back feeling like your old self again? Did you receive any treatment or medicine besides water?

Paul Wachter: No, no, you don't get that. For the rest of the day, I took it easy and I drank tons -- as much water as I could drink. I drank so much that I was finally using the bathroom a lot.

And that evening, I got probably four hours of sleep, and the next day, I was good to go. I was actually better than good to go; I was awesome. I was the first one diving off the dock, it was awesome!

Reality TV World: Going back to last night's episode, you were one of four Gen Xers who got to spend some time at the millennials' camp, but we didn't see how that was determined. Did you draw rocks just like the millennials or go through a different process?

Paul Wachter: We did the same exact thing. They came, we had a bag and a Tree Mail. We opened it up and we picked -- we had purple rocks and I got a purple rock, and so did [Chris Hammons] and David and CeCe.

Reality TV World: Did you have a strategy going into that meeting at all? Did you have any intention of building alliances over there like we saw David doing?

Paul Wachter: It was a quick thing and I was really dying to meet the millennials because I really thought I could connect great with them, and I did. In that short period of time, once we sat down and ate and everybody got a little -- you know, we finally got to speak to each other -- we went and jumped in the water and went for a swim.

It's a short little spot that you get to see on TV, but you'll see the kids got all around me and asked me a million questions, most of which were, like, survival questions, like how to sharpen a machete and stuff like that.

But we connected immediately and it was nice to get to talk to the new kids on the block, that's all. They were obviously having themselves a great time, and you know, not a care in the world like most millennials.

Reality TV World: Did you get the sense Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa and Taylor Lee Stocker were a showmance? And also, once you returned to the Gen X camp, how curious and paranoid were your tribemates, and do you think that played any role in your vote-off at all?

Paul Wachter: Once we got to the Reward that we had, we knew immediately that they were a showmance because we were told they were a showmance. You could see it right away because they were together, but the kids immediately told us and any time that you leave the camp or you leave tribemates behind, you never know what's happening.

But again, we had a very strong alliance, so mine -- you know, getting back more than strategy was guilt. You feel bad because you're eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and you know some of your friends are starving back at camp.

And you know, it's a show and it's a cutthroat show. But still, you're a human being and you feel bad for your fellow humans. You want to make sure everybody is doing well, and I could tell you it was really good to eat something good like that. But, no, I wasn't worried about it.

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


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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