Survivor: Worlds Apart's merged Merica tribe eliminated Joe Anglim during Wednesday night's eighth episode of the CBS reality competition's 30th season.

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Joe, a 25-year-old jewelry designer from Scottsdale, AZ, was the ninth person voted out of the game. His Merica tribe got him out on Night 24 at the season's ninth Tribal Council session.

Joe knew he was everyone's target so he tried to create himself a fake hidden Immunity Idol. He gave it to Mike Holloway in the hope Mike would save him for that one vote, but Mike ended up playing the idol and host Jeff Probst revealed it was fake. Regardless, Mike and his majority alliance had already cast their votes to oust Joe.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Joe talked about his Survivor experience. Below is the first half. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: When Mike Holloway cast his vote for you, he wrote a word next to your name on the paper, but I couldn't make it out. What did it say and what were you thinking when you read it?

Joe Anglim: (Laughs) I think that was a "Joey Amazing" that he wrote there in little scribble. You know, I was expecting something funny to come from somewhere in the cast. So, yeah, it's always funny. You've got "Chef Joe," you've got "Joey Amazing," you know, "Joe Cool." They are a funny group of people, so it was complimentary and bittersweet I suppose.

Reality TV World: Are you surprised Mike took your idol and then still voted for you? Because obviously in Mike's mind at the time of writing your name down, there was a chance the idol was real.

Joe Anglim: Well, there are two sides of that coin. He wasn't completely convinced that it was fake because he asked [Jeff Probst]. If he knew it was fake, he wouldn't have asked Jeff. I think there was a point where he considered, "Hey, you know what? Maybe. Just maybe this could be real."

But, you know, he also had the Blue idol, so he got to feel the weight and the texture and the actual thing in his hand. So, in comparison, mine probably looked childish. And Mike knows I'm artsy and that I probably crafted it, you know, I'm a No Collar. He probably got me.

Reality TV World: Do you respect Mike's gameplay there or kind of consider it a low blow?

Joe Anglim: In terms of gameplay, I totally respect -- I mean, that's the thing with me. Everything for me, in terms of gameplay, is respected. And on the relationship side of it, you know, these are some great people. So, no hard feelings. You know what? I tried at Tribal and I got [voted out]. So, it is what it is.

Reality TV World: Did you actually tell anyone you make jewelry for a living? Obviously that would've hurt your case with Mike even more.

Joe Anglim: Definitely. No, I told everyone that I was a handyman and I was an artist, painter. But I never mentioned sculpture, jewelry or anything like that. I kept that in the lockbox, because I had it planned from the start of the game to make an idol if I needed to. And so, I started acquiring little bits and pieces of things, and you know, I just waited. I was hoping to buy more time if I needed it.

Reality TV World: After you got the clue to a hidden Immunity Idol on Reward and shared it with Tyler Fredrickson, you guys started looking for it at camp and Mike was following you guys around. Did you have any idea Tyler shared the clue with Mike and Mike searched for it thereafter?

Joe Anglim: Yeah. Like you just said, as soon as I got back, they were on me like white on rice. I could not get a second alone. Someone always had eyes on me for the next, like, three days.

So, as soon as Tyler told Mike, me and Tyler got in another conversation and he said, "Yeah, I told Mike. I had to. Mike approached me and I had to tell Mike the clue. I was all flustered; I didn't know what to say. So I told him, like, 'It's near the beach. It's in a sea of green and it's in something hollow.'"

I was like, "Dude, you just told him the whole clue!" (Laughs) I was like, "You couldn't have thought of anything on your toes!?" So, that was really unfortunate, and I was really putting a lot of trust in Tyler because I didn't really have anyone.

So, me doing this with him, it was kind of like a, "Hey man, come take my hand and let's try to make some moves together." But everyone in our season was playing their own game and Tyler was, you know, using it to his advantage. He didn't want to look like he was being sneaky or deceitful in the majority, so he told Mike the clue.

Reality TV World: Were you worried that Mike may have found that idol when you presented your fake idol as a potential deal? Did that thought cross your mind?

Joe Anglim: So, from my perspective in the game at this point, I already assumed that one of the Blue Collars had the original Blue idol from when we were on our three original beaches. And I assumed -- in my head -- I kind of thought it maybe was Mike, just because of who he was. He was always out running around. I mean, you saw him.

So, I figured he would be the [guy]. If anyone was going to find it, it would probably be him. And I just assumed that, as a bunch of gamers, everyone was going to be looking for it. So I just assumed the Blue idol was found and my approach came from, "Let's try to make a merge idol. Let's do something different and pitch that to them."

So, in hindsight, giving it to Mike was probably not the best idea. I was trying to pitch to him, "Yo, me and you are kind of big threats in this game. Let's work together." But it didn't work out.

Reality TV World: Yes, I was going to ask you why you went for that deal with Mike rather than any other Blue Collar member. So it sounds like your strategy was to try to bond with Mike about being big threats?

Joe Anglim: Yeah, because essentially, once I'm gone, who do you think everyone is going to target? In my opinion, it was pretty blatant that Mike was -- he's kind of hooked into everybody and he's on the majority alliance. Someone eventually is going to target him next.

So my pitch to him was, "Hey, let's work together. Let's use this idol as something that we can use to our advantage in the next couple rounds." But he already had one, so he didn't need it. (Laughs)

Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion of Joe's exclusive Survivor interview.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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