We all knew the merge was coming on Survivor Gabon and when it happened last week, all of the remaining players were scrambling to keep their alliances intact while forming new ones. After agreeing on one of, if not the most lamest merge names in Survivor history, the final tribe was dubbed "Nobag", which is... well, Gabon spelled backwards.

Although Randy and Crystal have been the most vocal tribe members to date, now unable to contain their distaste for each, the focus soon shifted to the more subtle power players who had more influence than most realized. Despite agreeing with Charlie that Crystal had to go, Sugar became the swing vote and turned the tables on the New York lawyer who became the latest Gabon castoff to have his torch extinguished.

With the game heating up for what looks like either a showdown between Randy and Crystal or Randy's complete meltdown in front of his tribe mates, we hopped on the line with now ex-Gabon tribe mate Charlie Herschel to find out what he thinks of the new name, the dynamic between Randy and Crystal, and what unexpected things he encountered in the nether regions of Africa... and closer.

THE DEADBOLT: I actually think that you got out at the right time, because who really wants to be in a tribe called "Nobag"?

CHARLIE HERSCHEL: [laughs] Yeah. I mean it’s not the smartest people who thought of that. Kenny actually thought of that name and I’m not surprised. You know, it’s not the most talented bunch left in the game.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you think the trick to securing Sugar’s vote would’ve been talking to her last?

CHARLIE: We talked to her several times. The last person to talk to her was Bob. So, yeah, I definitely thought we had to get to her last. It seems the last person to talk to Sugar is who changes her mind. But that’s a little bit of the TV stuff, I think. I don’t know we tried hard that day and so it’s a fine line to be trying so hard that it’s transparent what you’re trying to do. And also trying to actually gain her trust, you can’t force it down her throat. At a certain point - and this is my strategy all along - it’s not because someone says, "I trust you." It’s relationship. It’s something you actually believe.

THE DEADBOLT: What do you think is going to happen with Randy and Crystal still living together?

CHARLIE: I think it’s a recipe for disaster. They hate each other. They hate each other so much and I was banking on that hate of Randy to keep me in the game. I thought that was a no-brainer that they would take out Randy they hated him that much. So I think it will be fireworks.

THE DEADBOLT: What was it like to hang out with the local tribe for your reward?

CHARLIE: It was one of the best days I had out there. They actually flew us there and we spent the night on cabanas overlooking the water. And the dance that they do and the ceremony that they had literally lasted twenty four hours. The whole time we were there they were performing for us and singing and dancing and feeding us and being very spiritual. We also did Iboga root, which is a drug. So if you were wondering why we were dancing our asses off, it’s because we are highly drugged. It was a fun experience.

THE DEADBOLT: What’s the most unexpected thing you encountered while in Africa?

CHARLIE: There were a lot of ticks. The most unexpected thing was - Like I say, often I had ticks on my d**k. We all had ticks in every nether region all of the time and we were always spending large portions of the day helping each other remove ticks from each other. That was very surprising and we ate termites to get us through the first few days when we had no food. And I never really expected Africa to be so cold at night, the nights were the hardest part physically to get through. It was really cold and freezing and a lot of people had no clothing.