Alec Merlino kept telling himself (and everybody else) that he could win.
He would outlast them all at least in one immunity challenge.
What was harder: losing the challenge or losing his spot in the game?
Alec Merlino on ‘Survivor: David vs. Goliath’.Robert Voets/CBS
Why wasnt he out there looking for idols?
(Or was he?)
And why the hell was he posting pictures on social media with Kara before the cast was even announced?
EW RADIO: First off, lets get right into that epic immunity challenge against Christian.
That perch is going to haunt me forever.
It was my demise.
If I had won that, obviously I would not have been gone.
It was the pain.
You have a tiny perch for your heals.
Everyone lasted a lot longer than I expected.
I think Tai had the record or something.
Jeff mentioned it was like 43 minutes for the Cambodia one.
I can beat myself up and be like, why did I step off?
But in that moment in that time youre so mentally broken down.
I let go and I was absolutely devastated after I did, but I was stoked for Christian.
He crushed it and beat me fair and square and was a beast.
But theres a silver lining.
To this day, it taught me in life, dont quit.
That perch seriously keeps me motivated in my day-to-day life.
Im like, Dont quit, dude.
Dont let go of the perch.
I always say that in my head.
I was just in a fog.
I have to be mentally tough.
And then I stepped off and I was just in a haze.
I think Jeff at one point was like, Do you even remember stepping off?
I was like What just happened?
Ive never been so mentally exhausted form anything in my entire life.
In that respect at least, they just seemed to be working a lot harder than you all.
Was that an accurate portrayal of what was going on out there?Yeah, totally.
My parents got on me, like, What are you doing sleeping?
And Im like, Dude, its not like I have an alarm clock out there.
Im a heavy sleeper as it is.
When I would pass out, I was out!
And the other people would tell me You know the Davids were out looking for idols.
Because the Davis werent going to wake us up.
That was just me being a heavy sleeper.
What was that all about?Alright, so… just to kind of say my peace.
Its been the main bone of contention for my entireSurvivorexperience.
I went out there and I had the experience of a lifetime.
So that picture, it was unfortunate.
I take 100 percent ownership of it.
But I think things can be misconstrued and thats all I really have to comment about that.
And for moreSurvivorscoop, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
