Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water's merged Huyopa tribe eliminated Josh Canfield during Wednesday night's eighth episode of the CBS reality competition's 29th season.
 
Josh, a 32-year-old actor and writer from New York, NY, was voted out of his tribe on Night 21 at the season's seventh Tribal Council session. Josh's loved one, his boyfriend Reed Kelly -- a 31-year-old Broadway performer, model and aerialist from New York, NY -- is still in the game.
 
In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Josh talked about his Survivor experience. Below is a portion of his interview. Click here to read the first part. Please check back with us soon for the concluding portion.

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Reality TV World: How big of a role do you think Jeremy Collins' Individual Immunity win played in Jon Misch and Jaclyn Schultz's decision to vote against you? If Jeremy hadn't won, do you still think you would've been the one going home?

Josh Canfield: Well, if Jeremy hadn't won, I would've won, because it was down to me and Jeremy. So, I think if I had immunity that night, I think I could've kept Jon's vote just because, all of a sudden, we had the opportunity to get Jeremy out. And I think Jon realized that Jeremy was a big threat as well.

And so, that's all I'm saying. Obviously I have no idea how it would've turned out. You know this game as well. Things can change by one person saying something. So, I would like to think if I would've won that immunity, that us as an alliance, could've persuaded Jon and Jaclyn to stay with us and go ahead and vote Jeremy out as we had the opportunity to.

Reality TV World: It seemed a little surprising that the winning team would send Jon to Exile Island considering he was the swing vote with Jaclyn. Could you explain the thinking behind that at all? It wouldn't seem to be the best decision since he carried so much sway in the tribe.

Josh Canfield: That wasn't my team... but I agree, especially because of the idol. I would've preferred to have gone, you know what I mean? Because I would rather have been on Exile getting that [hidden] Immunity Idol, but I don't know what they were thinking.

I wasn't involved in that process. That's, I guess, a question you'd have to ask the other five, why they ended up picking Jon to go to Exile. Because I actually don't know why they picked Jon.

Reality TV World: Okay. I was just asking because obviously a couple of your alliance members were on that team, so I don't know if it was something you had ever discussed with them.

Josh Canfield: Yeah, the thing is, once we all got back, I'm sure -- I'm trying to think -- I'm sure we talked about why they ended up sending Jon, but I honestly don't remember the reason why they said.

Reality TV World: Alec Christy said at one point he believed Jon was definitely with you guys on the vote because he trusted you guys and Jaclyn would just do whatever Jon told her to do...

Josh Canfield: (Laughs)

Reality TV World: Which obviously, if anything, seemed to play out the other way around. (Laughs)

Josh Canfield: Right, right.

Reality TV World: Did you feel the same way at the time? Which castaway had you been trying to woo at that point? Did you believe Jon was the decision-maker or Jaclyn?

Josh Canfield: Sure, yeah. Well, Reed and I kind of were doing this teaming together, and since I didn't even know Jon -- because the merge was the first time I had ever met him and Reed didn't know Jaclyn -- so Reed decided to take on Jon and I decided to take on Jaclyn as far as just, like, working on them for the most part.

So, I didn't really talk to Jon a whole lot because Reed was talking to him, and he was like, "Yeah, he's good." And I was with Jaclyn just making sure she felt good and was on her side. So, I guess in a sense, I was thinking that Jon would've had the final say just because Jaclyn wasn't doing a whole lot.

But in the end, the guy is going to go with the girl, right? (Laughs) I mean, he's going to -- if she's not feeling comfortable, you know, he's going to be up the creek if he doesn't side with her.

Reality TV World: There seemed to be a lot of talk about the reason you needed to get Jeremy out of the game was because no one could beat him in a jury vote. Did you really believe that or was that just something you were saying?

Josh Canfield: Yeah, that was just when I was trying to get Jon and Jaclyn on our side. That was just a strategy move, like, "Hey, think about it! Let's put me against Jeremy in the jury. Of course people are going to vote for Jeremy. He's got two kids and he's a firefighter and everyone likes him! Why would you give the money to a guy who's on Broadway doing what he loves?"

You know what I mean? I was trying to appeal to them about how he had a much better story to get the votes. And I think that ended up working for Jon and Jaclyn for a while, I mean, you saw them talking about it and then they talked about it again. In this episode, Jon was like, "Yeah, but he's a firefighter. If he gets to the end..." You know? So, there was still a little doubt in their mind.

Reality TV World: The last few episodes have played out like it was just yourself and Jeremy trying to gather your troops for battle. Did you kind of feel like you two were the only ones out there really playing the game? And if you weren't really worried about Jeremy beating you in a jury vote, why not just join forces? Did you ever consider working with him? You two together might've been unstoppable.

Josh Canfield: Yeah, a lot of people have actually suggested that, like, "Why didn't you and Jeremy just work together?" And the problem is, when you identify someone as that big of a threat, it's really hard to trust them. So, I don't think Jeremy could've ever fully trusted me and I wouldn't have trusted Jeremy fully at that point because we both were kind of standing out in the game.

And so, it was kind of like, "Well, if we both team up, then we're just an even bigger target -- and I don't even know if I can trust you." So, there's a lot of things into that question that is really hard to answer.

Going back to, "Were we the only ones really playing the game?" I would say no. We were not the only ones playing the game. I think we were the two [people] who were playing a certain type of game. I think everyone was playing the game in their own way. Whether it was a good game or not is the debatable part.

Reality TV World: Who else do you think was playing a good game at this point in the season?

Josh Canfield: Who else do I think is playing a good game?

Reality TV World: Yeah.

Josh Canfield: (Laughs) Well, of course Reed. I think Reed is playing a great game because I think he was doing the best with what he could do. Jeremy kind of threw him under the bus on Day 1 and he couldn't get his footing for the rest of the game until we did the tribe swap.

But he knew how to keep low and get the votes off of him, and that's when [Drew Christy] went home, because it was actually supposed to be Reed that night. So, I think he was playing a smart game with what he was given. I think [Wes Nale] was kind of playing a good game in some respects. He was, like, fighting with me but he was trying to stay underneath and kind of out of the limelight.

Wes is a huge, superfan of the show and he knew what he was doing. And I think on the opposite side, I think [Natalie Anderson] was kind of like that with Jeremy. She was kind of letting him lead and kind of taking a backseat so that she wasn't as big of a threat.

Reality TV World: What are your thoughts on Julie McGee's decision to quit the game?

Josh Canfield: I mean, obviously I was really disappointed because I thought if we went to Tribal that night, then Jeremy would've gone. Though I kind of feel like her quitting the game and then the decision not to have Tribal kind of screwed me over.

But as far as just my thoughts on quitting the game, it's disappointing. It's really hard when you're out there going through something that's so difficult and you kind of all become a family -- even a dysfunctional family, yeah, and a family in which you're trying to vote each other out, sure. But you're all going through it together.

And for someone to quit like that, you kind of feel betrayed. Even though she wasn't in my alliance, I still kind of felt betrayed. And it's hard as well because, as fans of the show, we're like, "Dangit! That means our show has a quitter on the season, and no one wants to watch a quitter. No one wants to see that." And it mars the show a little bit, and I think that it was frustrating for all of us. Yeah.

Click here to read the first portion of Josh's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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