Exclusive: 'Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water' castoff Jon Misch talks (Part 1)

Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water's merged Huyopa tribe eliminated Jon Misch during Wednesday night's episode of the CBS reality competition's 29th season.


Jon, a 26-year-old financial assistant from Waterford, MI, was voted out of his Huyopa tribe on Night 35 at the season's twelfth Tribal Council session.

Jon was blindsided by his alliance of five members after Natalie Anderson devised a plan to use Keith Nale against him and vote him out. Jon's girlfriend at the time Jaclyn Schultz -- who is now his fiancee -- is still in the game.

During an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Jon talked about his Survivor experience. Below is the first portion. Check back with us soon for more.

Reality TV World: You were obviously blindsided, so I just want to start out with clarifying how much longer your idol was good for. Was last night's Tribal Council the last time you could have played it, or was it the Final 5 Tribal?


Jon Misch: The next Tribal would've been the last time that I could've played it. And that's actually what I was saving it for, because I wasn't so concerned that -- I didn't so much think that we could trust our alliance until the end, but I did think that we would come down to our Final 5 and that that was when they would've tried to get me out. Looking back, that was wishful thinking. (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Your tribemates all knew you had the hidden Immunity Idol, so you'd think they'd find it necessary though to come after you before the Final 5 knowing that you'd definitely play your idol at your last opportunity.

Jon Misch: Right. And now that I'm actually talking about this again, I kind of just remembered how I was thinking then. I was worried that they were going to take Jaclyn out -- not me. Because I thought [Missy Payne] was too strong with me.

I did not think that she would blindside me. That was where my confidence lied so much. And my worry when I was out there wasn't so much that they were going to take me out, it was that they were going to take Jaclyn out because they didn't want us both to be in the Final 3.

Reality TV World: So you thought if they were to come after you at the Final 5, they'd try to vote out Jaclyn and not you?


Jon Misch: Yeah, I guess I did. In watching, there are so many times that I slapped myself in the face. I mean, not literally, (laughs) but I've wanted to hit myself because it's like, "Man, how confident did you get out there?!" Like, oh my gosh, it hurts to watch because it's just so -- oh my God. It's terrible to watch because it just hurts to see how comfortable I got.

And I did actually say -- when I was talking to the camera afterwards saying "good luck to Jaclyn" and all that -- I did say, "It should've been pretty obvious that this was the time to take me out. I should've played my idol," and that type of stuff. Jaclyn and I stressed so many times about, "Should we be trusting our alliance or should we not?"

They more showed it just being Jaclyn, but we did talk about it together, like, "Can we trust Missy? Can we do this?" So, at that point, we had just decided, "Look, we're going to trust them and we're going to move on with this. We're just deciding now that we're going to trust them at this vote." So ahh!

Reality TV World: I was going to ask you more about your final words. You were shown saying you wished you had played your idol, which is understandable at first glance, but given Jaclyn was the other person to receive votes, it just would've meant that Jaclyn would've gone home instead of you. So, just to clarify, did you really mean that, and if so why?

Jon Misch: Well, yeah, I did mean it. I still, well, you know. It's hard knowing that Jaclyn would've been going home. For my own selfish reasons, I mean, I wanted to win. I felt like I had made some of the moves and kept the relationships the way that if I had gotten to the Final 3, I'd win it. So, playing that idol would've been good for me.


But like you said, at the same time, if they were going to come for me, they were definitely going to split votes. And if I would play it, then Jaclyn would be going home. I had thought about that while I was out there, so, it's not as easy as, "Oh, just play your idol," and then you stay around.

Because now, you're taking out your loved one, I mean, now my fiancee -- I would've been taking her life out of the game. And then I would've had to live with the fact that it's my fault that Jaclyn was voted out. Yeah, the Blood vs. Water aspect brings that to the table, and that's not actually something that, going into it, I ever would've expected I would've had to think about. But yes, you called it right there.

Reality TV World: There were a couple of times this season when Jaclyn voiced frustration about you not respecting her opinion -- like you didn't approach the game as the "two of you" needed to win but rather you envisioned yourself winning and she was just along for the ride. Could you address that a little?

Jon Misch: Well, you know, actually, I'm glad you [asked that], because that's not something they showed at all. Jaclyn and I had talked a lot about how -- I was mainly the person that had the friendships, the relationships, that brought people to our alliance. That happened when the tribe swap happened and Jaclyn and I came together.

The reason we were in the middle was because two people from my tribe wanted to work with us. So, Jaclyn said that I brought the alliance over. And I was mainly the person that was going out and enacting all of these moves, so I was the one that was saying, you know, "It's time to blindside [Jeremy Collins]." Just things like that.


So, when we were out there, she even talked a lot about how we were playing for one of us to win and that the case would be better for my game. So, we even talked about how -- she was saying, "I'm going to sacrifice myself because Jon's the one that's got the jury votes if he got to the Final 3."

So, it may sound like -- it would be very selfish if it was just me saying, "I'm the one that's going to go to the Final 3, not you!" And all that. That would be terrible. But going into the game, we kind of just decided, "We're going to see how things play out, and whoever has the stronger hand, we're going to try to get that person into the Final 3."

Now what ended up happening with that, is that I had the stronger hand. And because I had the stronger hand, I was the bigger threat and that's why people wanted to get me out. But we were hoping that, you know, we go all out for one person and hope to play a good enough game to get that person to the Final 3.

If Jaclyn would've been the one with the relationships, she would've been the one that we were pushing to try to get to the Final 3 right from the beginning. But we had decided at the game that it was going to be me.

Check back with Reality TV World soon for more from Jon's exclusive interview.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski