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.

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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 and here to read the first two parts.

Reality TV World: You said in your final words that you think you showed everyone a little bit too much of yourself and that's why you got voted out of the tribe. Could you elaborate on that? Were you talking more about strategy or something personal?

Josh Canfield: Yeah, I was talking more about strategy. I think that I was trying to keep -- especially in the beginning, because our tribe kept losing on Coyopa -- I was tight with my alliance, but I was trying not to show that I was in charge.

I would be very cautious in how I made decisions and I would make sure that [Alec Christy] and [Wes Nale] were there and scheming, like they were making the decisions and things like that. So I was trying to play really, I don't know, like keep [myself] under [the radar] and in check -- not like I was going out there and just playing so hard.

But there comes a point when you can't hide anymore, you have to make decisions and you have to do things. And once we got over to the merged tribe, it was kind of set in stone that Alec and Wes were with me and that Reed was with me and that I was kind of in charge there.

And then, it was kind of like there was nothing that I could do about that. And that's all I was saying. I was saying it was hard because maybe... I'm trying to express that... I don't really know how to say this. (Laughs) I'm sorry.

Reality TV World: That's fine! Excluding the fact that their decision screwed you over, do you think Jon Misch and Jaclyn Schultz's strategy of going with Jeremy Collins and his alliance instead of yours was the best decision to make in terms of what would get them farther in the game? Because like Jaclyn pointed out, being in an alliance with mostly guys would make it harder to win Immunity Challenges and such.

Josh Canfield: Yeah. I think by going with us, that actually would have taken the target off of Jon and Jaclyn. Because Jaclyn would be the only girl in our alliance, that would more solidify her to the end because all of us guys would eventually turn on each other and we wouldn't care about Jaclyn. We would want to try to take each other out.

So, I think Jaclyn would've had a nice, safe route to the finish line if she went on our side as opposed to going with the other side, where there's three women already and she would seem as a little bit more of a threat in that situation.

With Jon, the same thing, like going with us, you have a bunch of more athletic and capable guys that he would be with, so he wouldn't look as big of a threat, whereas the other way, he only had Jeremy -- and then it would be him. He would be the target. But then, Jaclyn wanted to be with people who, you know, she felt actually cared about her and that says a lot in the game too.

Reality TV World: When I talked to Dale Wentworth earlier this season, he said he thought Missy Payne was running the show and that no one ever really seemed to stand up to her. When I asked you whom you felt was playing the game well, I don't recall Missy being one of the people you mentioned. So what are your thoughts on Missy's gameplay so far?

Josh Canfield: I feel like Missy's made a lot of mistakes already. I don't think she's playing a good social game, and I think that's the only game she has unfortunately. I think she's just being a little reckless.

Reality TV World: So you don't think she's been influential when it comes to Jon's decisions or anything like that?

Josh Canfield: No. I really don't think -- yeah sure, her and Jon had a little bit of a connection, but I don't think Jon really looked up to her the way that she thinks he looks up to her. I think she has a much higher opinion of what she was doing than what she was actually doing.

Reality TV World: What did you think about Keith Nale flat out telling Missy that he was going to be voting for her daughter Baylor Wilson?

Josh Canfield: Oh my gosh! (Laughs) You know what?! I actually -- Keith ended up coming back and telling us that he did that, and we were all like, "What?! What do you mean? (Laughs) What do you mean you told Missy that we were going to vote Baylor?" And so, we were going to switch our vote to someone else because he kind of gave us up, but then we were like, "They probably expect us to switch."

And then it was just, like, it doesn't even matter really because Baylor and none of them have an idol. So, it ended up being irrelevant, but yeah, I think it's poor gameplay.

Reality TV World: Was that a concern for you, that the people you were aligned with -- Keith, Alec and Wes -- might not have had a reputation for being the sharpest guys out there?

Josh Canfield: Yeah, absolutely. And that's the thing, like, at that point, there was no way I could choose -- you can't foresee those problems at the beginning of the game. At the beginning of the game, when I chose to really align with the guys, you don't know everyone that well yet and you don't know how they're playing or how they will play when you make that alliance.

We already had a strong alliance, and so, there was no real way to jump into a new alliance or try to get ahold of a new alliance. So, it was always a concern of mine (laughs) throughout the entire game.

Reality TV World: How were you cast on Survivor and how did you come to end up on the Blood vs. Water format? Had yourself or Reed applied?

Josh Canfield: No, we actually got on separately, which is an awesome thing! We had both been applying. Reed was the original superfan. He got me involved like two years ago and I got hooked on Survivor. I watched every season and I was just like, "What is this?!"

I was the first one to decide to apply -- because I was like, "I want to do this thing!" -- and then Reed applied. Anyway, so we had been applying like two or three times I guess, and Reed got a call saying, "Hey, we're interested in possibly being on Blood vs. Water, is there anyone who you might want to play with?"

And he was like, "Yeah, my boyfriend. He's a huge fan," and blah, blah, blah. And then he starts describing me and the casting director goes, "Wait, if your boyfriend Josh Canfield?" And he was like, "Ugh, yeah."

And she's like, "He's on my file next to call." So, she calls me and it was just a crazy circumstance. I mean, they must've been like, "We hit the jackpot! We got two guys who are together and they've both been trying to get on this show and they're both fans."

So we knew we had to do this, because I mean, what are the chances. I mean 20,000 people apply every season for this and we both were picked to go to the callbacks and the finals? So it was like, "We have to do this!"

Click here and here to read the first two parts of Josh's exclusive interview with Reality TV World.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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