Survivor castaway Spencer Bledsoe is the youngest person in Cambodia: Second Chance's cast by far, but he's going to try to use that so-called disadvantage wisely.
ADVERTISEMENT
Spencer, 22, is more than three years younger than Joe Anglim, the next youngest person in the cast. Spencer is four years behind Ciera Eastin and seven behind Kelley Wentworth. Although Spencer admitted to Parade magazine the age gap was a big concern of his entering Season 31, he had a gameplan.
"I think the nickname 'young lad' has never rung more true," Spencer told Parade, referencing the nickname Survivor: Cagayan's winner Tony Vlachos gave him.
"It's daunting. The fact that the average age, especially on the guys' side, is so high. My gut reaction is that it's not ideal. It could make it hard to relate and talk about the same things. If I can work it in a way where I become almost like a child figure to some of these people, or an understudy, I think it could bode well."
Not only could Spencer act like a child figure to some of the castaways, he could also boost their egos by playing his Super Fan card -- which would be more believable since he's just a "lad."
ADVERTISEMENT
"There are people here if I present myself in the right light, especially as a fan, who in some cases truly does admire these people, I think I could potentially stroke them in the right way to have a good relationship where they don't see me as threatening -- because I'm so young, and because I look up to them," Spencer explained.
Spencer thought about using this strategy on Andrew Savage and Terry Deitz for example. His knowledge of the game could be used as a tool to leverage with some of the more experienced Survivor veterans.
"I've tried to remove myself from the fan state of mind, but I think what I most want to do is have that state of mind and be conscious of it, showing it only when it's necessary. If a situation comes up and I want to make someone feel good and bug out and really fanboy over them, I think it's a plus that I could make that happen genuinely -- that I genuinely have that within me to give them. It wouldn't even be acting," he told Parade.
But Spencer wants to ease into this method. If anything, at the start of the game, he'd like to be seen as everyone's equal and gain their respect.
As for castaways he considered working with going into the game, Wentworth, Stephen Fishbach, Shirin Oskooi and Tasha Fox were all possibilities. Spencer was very close to Tasha but knew people might suspect their alliance, so he was willing to pretend like they weren't a pair.
ADVERTISEMENT
While he wasn't gunning to join forces with Kass McQuillen and Woo Hwang from his first stint on Survivor, he feared the cast would view them as a solid foursome with Tasha.
"I definitely feel the heat of four people from Cagayan being here," Spencer admitted. "It's us -- we have four -- and then San Juan del Sur has three. No one else even has three. Our season is the most heavily represented."
Spencer has some hurdles to manage early on, but he intends to fall back on his self-described "good strategic mind." After all, he confessed he's not efficient at developing amazing social connections with people.
"I'm going in with an openness to be as villainous as necessary, but I think my goal is an amoral one. It's not a villainous or heroic one. It's to play well. I think it worked out well last time in that I got a little humbled and I wasn't able to play a controlling game, a game where I was on top," Spencer told the magazine.
Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance premieres Wednesday, September 23 with a special 90-minute broadcast at 8PM ET/PT. The finale of Big Brother's seventeenth season will follow from 9:30-11PM ET/PT.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski