Im not sure if any player I have ever interviewed has done more preparation heading into a season.
(Too bad they didnt have that rule in place for him last time he played.)
But thats not all David has going for him.
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
Its a great interview.
You should check it out.
(Read through both pages for the entire interview.)
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
Ive been asking myself that a lot lately.
Women, they give birth.
Then they get amnesia, and they forget how hard labor was.
It gets them to do it again.
But I remember every horrible detail about my firstSurvivorexperience.
I think people remember the season.
I think theyll remember how well I did.
He seems to know what hes doing.
All right, so you say these newbies.
Youre assuming theres going to be newbies.Yes.
I believe there will be newbies.
Actually, I thought until today that I had a handle on the theme.
I do think it is somehow related to day 38, because I got voted out day 38.
Kelley Wentworth got voted out day 38.
And shes the only person that you know is on this season.
I just have a hunch.
I dont know who.
Then I think you would also need another woman.
You brought up day 38.
First off, what do you think of that?
I think it was certainly hard for season 35 because it was sprung on them.
They didnt know about it.
But now, it is a fundamental part of the game.
you’re gonna wanna know how to make it really fast.
Fortunately for me, I can make fire in less than 20 seconds.
Was that the case last time you played?It was the case last time I played.
Then Id be a millionaire right now.
You said its part of the game.
You have to prepare for it.
My girlfriend has been incredibly helpful in preparing me for this second time around.
Im really just parroting her advice, but really get rid of the biggest threat at six.
Hopefully you have an idol.
You play it at five.
I can win at fire.
That gets me to three.
Really, Im focused on the benchmark of six in terms of getting rid of the biggest threats.
You said that you think that youre a big threat here.
The newbies have seen your season.
They know how you play.
They know what to expect from you.
Hes a huge threat.
But the advantage of it though is that I am a known quantity.
In playingSurvivor, its good to know things.
Its comforting to know things.
Were recording this just days afterGhost Islandjust finished airing.
How much does it hurt you that your fake idol played a big part in that season?
Now its being played in this hugely dramatic fashion.
It sort of puts the target back on you, doesnt it?Yeah.
On my couch, I was thinking, Oh, this is so cool.
Then I get the phone call.
Its like, Oh, this is so terrible.
Yeah, its an issue.
Its a huge issue.
I was just trying to have some fun.
Lets all just have some fun together.
You think its a mix of returning and new players.
I dont know if you saw this.
I did a wholestatistical analysis last year.I did see this.
Good news for me.
The numbers are pretty interesting.
You have three-and-a-half better times a chance of making the end.Yeah, I saw that post that you did.
Is this where it flips the other way?
Yeah, its a real concern of mine., Im really worried about it.
Itll be a slightly different dynamic with me, but I really do need to cultivate this culture ofus.
Not me, me, me, me, or this ismyreturn.
This isourseason, guys.
Its us versus them, meaning maybe Kelley Wentworths tribe if shes on a different tribe.
But yes, I want to make it so that …
I want to buck people up.
I want to highlight their strengths.
The first few days are so key and so important.
Are you going to be as paranoid as you were last time?Its very funny you say that.
I made theseSurvivorpuzzle books.
It has every puzzle ever featured in the show.
At the very top of the list, it says, Dont get paranoid.
Its not anything that I think I have too much control over, but Im mindful of it.
Im aware of how much it almost destroyed my game the first time.
(Interview continues on next page.)
NEXT PAGE: Davids crazy puzzle prep and even crazier plans for the game
You just mentioned puzzles.
Youve been working on puzzles.
Thats smart for anyone to do.
I can do a lot of them very quickly.
I can do that very quickly.
It has several solutions, but I memorized the one thats the fastest and most kind of logical.
The Cochran final immunity flame puzzle, I 3D printed that.
I can do that in probably about less than two minutes.
I recreated the hanging bat puzzle from my season.
I recreated that, and I cracked the code on that puzzle.
Slide puzzles, Im a whiz at.
I feel very confident about all the puzzles I created.
I am more worried about the swimming still.
And this is a location where you do need to do some swimming.
Theres no doubt about it.
I love you nerding out on those puzzles.
Then Ive got to figure it out in the moment.
How have you changed since you last played?
Im not talking about your strategy going out.
How are you different?Im much more confident than I was.
Never expected to get to day 38 and I did.
Then it was like a dream come true, even though I didnt get to 39 or win.
It was more than I expected.
Im living my life a lot more than I was.
Im still afraid of flying.
I really hate the flight here.
But I have a girlfriend now.
Im going to come into this game just being much more confident.
One is positive thinking.
Im going to manifest that.
Thats not something I used to do.
Theres also setting goals, and theres also visualization.
I think Ive done that with my puzzles.
But this is interesting, David, because you knowSurvivorloves their stories and their arcs and their transitions.
In every season, they love the zero-to-hero storyline, right?
You do really well.
Youre just telling me how great your life is.
Regardless of how you do, its a different arc for you now, isnt it?It is.
Die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
You mentioned Kelley Wentworth.
Shes the only player you know that is out here.
What do you make of her?
Is this someone you think you want to work with, or are worried about?
What are you thinking about Kelley?Okay, so this is very interesting.
Im glad you asked this.
Before I came out here, I was pretty sure I was going to be sitting with Kelley Wentworth.
I thought she would be out here.
When I saw her at the airport, Im like, Oh, yes, okay.
I got my finger on the pulse.
Because I thought she was going to be out here, I just started boning up on Kelley Wentworth.
She did a recap of an episode from my season, the merge episode.
She was asked, Who do you like right now?
She said no one.
I had this idea in my head that she doesnt like me.
She was one of my favorite things aboutSecond Chance.
We do have these big targets on our back.
Lets maybe get to the end.
But can I tell you something else.
I want to call my shot right now.
Yeah, do it.I want to do something thats never been done onSurvivor.
Correct me if Im wrong about this.
You are far more the expert than I am, but I want to create a fake advantage.
I call it the Sole Vote advantage.
My girlfriend and I kind of put this together, but basically someone will find it.
Then itll say what it can do is it cancels voting at Tribal Council.
Then they have to announce who they alone are going to send home.
How are you going to create this note?
I wanted to ask Jeff about that and I didnt, but thats one idea.
Another idea I had is sometimes theres some burlap that the rice comes in.
But I just think itd be just so much fun.
I want to create another fake immunity idol for someone to find.
Yup.I want to paint a clue on a tree and then bury the idol next to the well.
Then theyll have to dig it up.
If I can do a fake advantage, I can also do fake rules of the idol.
But yeah, those are the things Im most excited about.
Ive got some other things Im going to keep secret at the moment.
Why are you keeping them secret at the moment?Theyre not fully-formed.
I want some more time to think about them.
I dont want to say something stupid right now.
Well, you know, with that idol though, again the same thing.
Players are so smart now.
As youve seen in the past few seasons, you need that parchment, right?
I think it would only encourage more fake idols, but who knows?
Maybe well end up in a season with like 20 fake idols.
For moreSurvivorscoop, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
