Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water's merged Huyopa tribe eliminated Wes Nale during Wednesday night's tenth episode of the CBS reality competition's 29th season.
Wes, a 23-year-old firefighter from Shreveport, LA, was voted out of his Huyopa tribe on Night 26 at the season's ninth Tribal Council session.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wes was voted out of the game because although the majority of votes had been cast for Jon Misch and Keith Nale, both Keith and Jon had played their hidden Immunity Idols and so Wes was left with two significant votes and ultimately a snuffed torch. Wes' dad Keith is still in the game.
In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Wes talked about his Survivor experience. Below is the concluding portion. Click here to read the first half.
Reality TV World: Reed Kelly said in a confessional at one point that he wasn't sure if Keith understood the intricacies of the game. And when I talked to Jeremy Collins this season, he called you guys the "non-thinkers" of the group. What's your reaction to that? Would you argue you actually strategized a lot out there?
Wes Nale: Yeah, I did, definitely. It was before Reed got in the picture after, you know, we swapped tribes. It was me, [Alec Christy] and [Josh Canfield] making, it seemed like, every call.
ADVERTISEMENT
I would throw something out there and then Alec would throw something out there and then Josh would throw something out there. And then we all kind of came to the agreement of which would be the best call for us three as a whole.
So, it was just kind of the best decision for us, so I felt like we were making all these calls. And then Josh and Reed got together and then it was kind of us four. We still threw out opinions, but somehow, Reed figured out a way to say, "Hey, those weren't the best." And then Josh would somehow agree, and then me and Alec just kind of went with it after that.
Reality TV World: When Jon Misch and Jaclyn Schultz initially decided to flip on your alliance and work with Jeremy's group instead, Jaclyn claimed it was because you guys barely spoke to her when Jon was in Exile and you had been rude and didn't have manners toward the girls. Did you realize at the time you were kind of alienating Jaclyn and do you wish you had been more concerned about keeping her comfortable -- or do you just think she overreacted?
Wes Nale: Yeah, she definitely overreacted and I don't regret anything about that because she's never talked to me about strategy either. She always sat in the shelter and waited for -- I felt like -- Jon, to tell her what's happening, because everybody was talking to Jon. Because Jon was out there trying to talk to people too.
So, it worked both ways, because she never came up to us and talked strategy either. So, her saying that, I feel like I could've said the same thing about her. Jaclyn never came and talked to me about strategy, so why should I go talk to her? So I feel like that would've worked best both ways anyway.
ADVERTISEMENT
Reality TV World: It seemed like you, your dad and Alec were set on the fact Jon was going to vote with you guys and Jaclyn was just going to do whatever Jon told her to do. What was your reaction when you saw that Jon actually listened to Jaclyn and turned on you for Jeremy's alliance when they served as the swing vote a few Tribals back?
Wes Nale: I wasn't happy about it. My dad said he didn't trust Jon from the beginning, so I knew it was going to be a toss-up. But Josh and Alec both said that they trusted Jon and he was right there with us and blah, blah, blah. Jon looked me in the eyes and said, "Hey, I want to play with you. I feel like you all are good, straight-up guys. I feel like this would be the best bet for me."
And then he turns on us, which was stupid on his part, because that would've picked him right off because Jeremy would've picked him off until he flipped with Reed. So, after he did that, I didn't have nothing for Jon. I knew that we weren't going to be working together at all, and it just kind of made me more mad in a way.
Reality TV World: Natalie Anderson seemed to be against Jon for blindsiding her closest ally, Jeremy, saying she wanted him to get a taste of his own medicine, but then she was the one at Tribal who talked him into playing his idol. Did that surprise you on Natalie's part? Whom did you think she was siding with before Tribal?
Wes Nale: I told her we were going to vote for Jon and we needed to vote for Jon. Because I told her, I said, "I went to find the idol and I feel like Jon has it because Jeremy wouldn't have walked out on it." And so, I told her that we might be voting for Jon and she said that she's 100% in to vote for Jon and that she wanted to vote him out because they voted Jeremy out without her knowing.
ADVERTISEMENT
So she was in, and then she said -- she told me that she felt that she would lose her whole alliance and be at the bottom if it didn't work out as planned. She knew that if she stuck with the plan, she might be on the bottom if she voted for Jon.
So that's why she was trying to save her alliance and tell him to play his idol, so she could act like she's still in the alliance supposedly. So it was a good play on her part, but she was ready to take him out.
Reality TV World: When you left the game, Keith no longer had an idol and Reed was exposed for trying to get Jon out. How did you see things playing out after that? Whom did you think would be the next target?
Wes Nale: I had a bad feeling it was going to be Keith, because Keith, Alec and Reed were part of my alliance and they both flipped on them. They [insisted] that they were playing with Jon, Jaclyn, [Missy Payne], [Baylor Wilson], and Natalie, but then they flipped. So I had a bad feeling it was going to be one of them three next.
Reality TV World: There was a lot of confusion at Tribal Council during which there were a lot of side conversations, especially involving Natalie and Baylor -- who said she needed to just make a last-minute decision because she didn't know what was going on. Did you have any idea what all the talk was about at the time? Did you overhear any of that?
ADVERTISEMENT
Wes Nale: No. I don't think so.
Reality TV World: Dale Wentworth told me earlier this season he thought Missy was pretty much in charge. Who do you think is running the show over there?
Wes Nale: I thought Jeremy was after we switched tribes. I thought Jeremy had it all. I thought Jeremy -- when we were on Coyopa -- he was running it on Hunahpu and then... we swapped tribes and I feel like we had the upperhand. But then I thought me, Alec, Josh, and Reed were running the show.
And then in the other tribe, I felt maybe Natalie was running the show, because she had everybody with her and everybody liked her. And then after I find out that Jon and Jaclyn were to come with us, and then they flipped on us, I felt like Jon was running the show. So, I mean, I didn't feel like anybody just took control of everybody. But I think everybody had it at a point, I guess.
Reality TV World: How were you and Keith cast on Survivor, ending up on a Blood vs. Water season? Did you or him apply first and how did that all come about?
Wes Nale: I applied in 2010. I sent in a video and they called and said, "You know, why didn't you ever send another video?!" And I said, "Well, I never heard from ya'll." And they were like, "We loved ya'll. We kept your video on file. We're doing a Blood vs. Water, so would you like to play with anybody?"
And I said, "Yeah, my dad." And they said, "Well send a video in within two days, and if we like it, I'll show my boss and my boss will fly you out to LA." And so the bosses liked it, we flew to LA, we competed against 10 or so more teams, and then they called us and said, "You got it ya'll!" So, that was it!
Click here to read the first half of Wes Nale's exclusive interview with Reality TV World.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski