Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water's merged Huyopa tribe eliminated Alec Christy and Reed Kelly during Wednesday night's two-episode special of the CBS reality competition's 29th season.
Alec, a 22-year-old student from Winter Park, FL, was voted out at the season's eleventh Tribal Council session.
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Alec had been an obvious outsider of the main alliance and became an even bigger target than Keith Nale after Natalie Anderson determined she could use Keith to win against Jon Misch in Individual Immunity Challenges and also vote Jon out with her. Alec's loved one Drew Christy had been voted out of the game very early on, on Night 10.
In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Alec talked about his Survivor experience. Below is the concluding portion. Click here to read the first half.
Reality TV World: Going back to the Tribal Council when Wes Nale was voted off, do you know what the point was of his dad Keith Nale playing his idol? I know after Jon Misch played his idol, it seemed certain either Keith or Wes was going home, and Keith was willing to save his son to begin with. So why bother playing the idol at all? Why not leave it around for the person who doesn't get voted off so it would still be a playable option for him?
Alec Christy: Well, I believe once the votes are read, if the idol is in your pocket, you cannot trade it. So he couldn't give it to Wes after his votes. You know, you can't -- if he's holding it, if it was in Wes' pocket, that would be able to happen.
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I don't understand why Keith -- he should've just gotten voted out, I think, or let Wes get voted out -- or however that would've went. But I've seen some situations in Survivor where that happens and people go home with the idol in their pocket and you can't give it to the other person.
Reality TV World: Who do you really think is calling the shots between Jon and Jaclyn Schultz? Jon seems to think it's him, but there's been a few instances when it's appeared Jaclyn is more the brains of their operation.
Alec Christy: (Laughs) That's a great question. You know, I don't get it. I would have to say Jaclyn, I mean, because Jon -- I thought it was the other way around. I really did. I thought Jaclyn would be the one who would do whatever Jon said. But really, the way it's happened, Jaclyn's been the one with the power.
Jon's just the player and Jaclyn has the voice, you know? Jon's finding the idol and Jon's winning immunity, and Jaclyn's looking good on the beach. But she still found a way to make Jon do what she wanted, I guess.
Reality TV World: When I talked to Jeremy Collins earlier this season, he called yourself, Keith and Wes the "non-thinkers" at camp. What's your reaction to that? And how would you argue criticism your group wasn't very strategic out there and you were just kind of rolling along in the game?
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Alec Christy: We were definitely -- I was definitely thinking and trying to play the game. I just, at that point, I knew that Jon was just going to be, like, very lackadaisical and half-assing his gameplay. So I didn't really want to play with Jon at that point.
And that's why we tried to get him out and almost did. So, what? We weren't playing the game? We almost pulled one of the biggest moves ever on you, dude. Get real. He's lucky. He should count his lucky stars that [Natalie Anderson] helped him out, because he should've been on the jury before me.
So, you know, I'm alright with that. And there are plenty of people that are going to accuse you of not playing, but everyone has their right to the way they play the game. I think we were playing it; It just kind of didn't go the way we wanted it to.
And then when you're far in the game, it's a little harder to play when these people are looking at you, like, "Hey, we're going to vote you out for sure." So, I'm alright with that.
You guys, I think, will be interested to see how the game unfolds from here. So, it's okay. Anybody can say what they want, but I'm still hanging my head high, you know?
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We played hard! It was a crazy, crazy game and man, we were so close to getting Jon out! I can't believe it. So it must've been before that he said that. Because after that, he was like, wow, he had no idea we were going to do that.
Reality TV World: Is it safe to say you had no idea Natalie wanted Jon out of the game so badly? Because it's kind of ironic that it seemed like you guys wanted the same thing but weren't able to make it happen.
Alec Christy: Yeah, I knew that Natalie didn't want to go to the end with Jon. I just did not know she was ready to make a move at that exact time. I knew she wasn't going to go to the end with Jon or position herself to leave Jon in the Top 4 or 5.
She wanted Jon out well before, but I guess I really didn't know that she wanted him out that badly until I was out and away from the game. And then you see her interviews and you're like, "Wow!" No, I definitely did not know it was that extreme.
Reality TV World: So Natalie was really concerned obviously about changing her vote and voting to get you out. She was concerned about what Jon and Jaclyn's reaction might be. Knowing what you know now about Jon and Jaclyn, do you think Natalie's concern was justified? Do you think the couple would be receptive to or upset about Natalie flipping on their plan to vote for Keith?
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Alec Christy: Natalie changed her vote knowing that I was trying to play with Jon, and that's why it was aggravating to me, because I had been trying to play with Jon. I was like, "Yo, these girls are going to vote you out, man."
And I absolutely told him that and still, he was like, "I trust them. I'm sorry, dude." But Nat still saw me trying to work Jon over and get his vote -- trying to get him to vote with me and not vote me out. And that scared Natalie, and I think Natalie saw more potential in manipulating Keith than manipulating me.
Reality TV World: In most Survivor seasons, being the swing vote between two alliances is pretty dangerous, and a lot of times, the alliances tend to team up and turn on the swing votes. But we haven't seen that happen to Jon or Jaclyn this season even though they've been in that position for a while at this point. Why do you think that's been the case?
Alec Christy: I think it's probably because of the dynamic of the couples thing. Because, you know, there's Jon and Jaclyn and they were teamed up with [Missy Payne] and [Baylor Wilson].
So, I think that there was still -- and as well, you know, Jon is a big threat but Jaclyn really isn't. So, you're going to make a big move with getting Jon out, but if you can't do that, don't waste your time getting Jaclyn out because you want to sit in the end with Jaclyn if you can.
Reality TV World: I want to follow up on your statement that it'd be good to take Jaclyn to the end. I know Jon had immunity, but we didn't really see the castaways discuss the possibility of at least weakening Jon by taking Jaclyn out instead of you. Could you elaborate on why you think they didn't just target Jaclyn and why she'd be a good choice to take to the end?
Alec Christy: Because Jaclyn isn't going to get the votes in the end. As sweet of a girl as she is, it just wasn't going to happen. There were so many other players that were really, really playing, and Jaclyn was tanning on the beach.
And maybe it was the illusion of the whole "Miss Michigan, I'm a Barbie" thing that really sold it for her. But that just kind of made it, like, if you could make it possible to sit next to her in the end, that was your ultimate goal. Because you're going to get the vote before she is.
That was the mindset of a lot of people, and so it wouldn't be a big enough move to take Jaclyn out. Why would you do that when you can get out a really, really big threat, like, maybe Natalie or [Reed Kelly] or Wes or whoever. There were so many other players in the game that had more going on and had a bigger resume for the Final 3 than Jaclyn.
Click here to read the first half of Alec Christy's exclusive interview with Reality TV World.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski