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Playing the Fake Immunity Idol with Corinne Kaplan of Survivor Gabon
by Troy Rogers
 You have to hand it to Randy, Corinne, and Bob on Survivor Gabon, they've thrown a few big "Hail Mary" bombs on the scale of Eli Manning, even Doug Flutie back in the day, to save their butts. Although Bob is still in the mix within the Nobag tribe on Survivor Gabon, he's got his work cut out for him after Sugar, Matty, Crystal, Kenny and Suzi fell headfirst for his second sneak attempt with a fake idol. Now that Corinne is gone and Bob has bluffed twice already, it's going to be an uphill climb for the physics teacher from Maine. Then again, as we're now thinking after speaking to the latest cast-off, the fact that he's a high school teacher just might be his greatest strength.
This week Corinne Kaplan became the latest cast-off from Survivor Gabon after Bob's strategy with fake idol didn't quite work out as planned. The morning after Corinne became the fourth member of the Gabon jury, we stopped trying to make our own homemade version of Bob's immunity necklace (mainly since we've spent way too many years in the city) and jumped on the phone with the Pharmaceutical sales rep from L.A. to talked to Corinne about the dynamics of the tribe, why everything fell apart at tribal council, how she feels about her ex-tribe mates, and to learn more about what goes on behind-the-scenes at the Ponderosa.
THE DEADBOLT: Do you still hate everyone as much as you said in your final video?
CORINNE KAPLAN: [laughs] You know, there’s only one person I really hated. Everyone else is alright. I would never hang out with them again voluntarily, but they can live - there’s only one person I really hate.
THE DEADBOLT: Can I take a guess at who that is?
CORINNE: Sure.
THE DEADBOLT: It’s Sugar, isn’t it.
CORINNE: Yep, you got it.
THE DEADBOLT: I thought your plan with Bob and the fake idol was brilliant, but it had a major flaw, which is why I’m talking to you right now.
 CORINNE: Right. Well, the flaw is that. You know, you have to understand that when I started playing the game I was playing thinking everyone else were rational, practical, logical players, and they weren’t. So eventually I decided to save myself and I needed a completely ridiculous plan, because that’s what these people would fall for. They don’t listen to reason. So we came up with this insane plan to use yet another fake idol, made by the same guy who made the other one last round, and we came up with this ridiculous story and I did this great acting job trying to convince Kenny.
What I didn’t realize is that these people - Crystal and Kenny bought the fact that it was a real idol, which is amazing. I mean, that’s the hard part. But these people, who let Sugar walk around for over twenty days with her idol, have now decided that this needs to be flushed out when after day thirty six it’s null and void anyway. I mean, how could I possibly have thought - And I told Kenny over and over again, ‘Whatever, I’m going to use it either way. But to show solidarity, if you guys don’t vote with me I’m not going to think you’re in my alliance. So vote with me so I know that you’re with me. I’m not going home, I’ve got an idol.’
THE DEADBOLT: Did you and Bob talk about that? Like if that’s what they decided to do, then what was plan B?
CORINNE: Bob and I just never thought that they were going to try and flush out [the idol]. You have to understand, too, the goal, when you say "flush out an idol," is for me to use it. It’s real and I would save myself. But either way they should’ve voted Matty out, because, worst case scenario, then Matty goes home and he’s a much bigger immunity threat. And another thing I couldn’t understand is that there are five people in this alliance, you can't all be in the final, you've got to jump ship to save yourself. If you jumped with me then you at least guarantee yourself a one-in-four instead of a one-in-five chance. It totally and logically made sense. My plan was great, except I didn’t realize I was playing with mentally handicapped people.
THE DEADBOLT: It was really emotional when the family members arrived. How much of a boost was that for you?
 CORINNE: That was incredible. But it was bittersweet because my brother gets there, and it was amazing to see him, but I had to tell him when he got there. I was like, ‘Chad, I got no prayer. I don’t know what we’re going to do.’ I introduced him to Bob and Bob’s doing the same thing to Peg. You know, me, Bob, Peg, and Chad are hanging out in the forest while everyone else is in the hut and Bob and I are strategizing while Peg and my brother were just completely helpless. We were like, ‘Listen, guys, one of us is going home next round. So it’s nice that you’re here and I made it this long, but not much longer.
THE DEADBOLT: What did you like the most and the least about Gabon?
CORINNE: Well, the most, for sure, is the friends that I made out there. They’re like family to me now. I don’t know how the casting people did this, but I swear to you, me, Marcus, Randy, and Charlie were the best of friends on the show. There was nothing fake about that. We really like each other and I will have them forever. I can’t say the same for the other mutants that I was on the show with. I mean, they don’t like each other at all. That was amazing! That was the best experience, to be able to share that with them. And even though I got voted off, I got to go to Ponderosa. Now it’s the four of us on a seven person jury knowing we get to pick who the winner is. There was still some sweetness in that and I get to go and have a couple of drinks with them. It was awesome, six days with them at Ponderosa.
THE DEADBOLT: Actually, I was just about to ask you what it was like hanging out with the boys at the Ponderosa?
 CORINNE: Amazing. It’s exactly what I wanted to do in Gabon. Like there were times - they don’t show much of this, but Charlie would yell at me and be like, ‘We have to stop hanging out because people are on to us.’ And when Randy was going down in a blaze of glory, I had to separate myself from him and I was never more miserable in the game than when I couldn’t hang out with the people I wanted to hang out with and I was forced to 'pretend nice' to the people I didn’t like. So when you’re at Ponderosa, you get to do whatever you want. I’ll tell you this: Whoever the next people that come to Ponderosa are, aside from Bob, we didn’t like anybody else. So, there is no more interaction. We have nothing to do with the other people, we’re having our own party at Ponderosa.
THE DEADBOLT: Can you explain why everyone is listening to Kenny so religiously?
CORINNE: Oh, that’s easy, because Kenny is the smartest of those morons. I mean, Sugar, you can watch. I mean it’s ridiculous that she turned on Ace. That kid loved her and that’s the only person on the show that liked her. I mean, he took such good care of her. For her to listen to Kenny and turn just goes to show you how gullible they are and they’re just not bright people. I don’t really know how else to explain it. Like Kenny’s not the smartest but he’s smarter than the rest of them. I mean, you’re watching him convince Crystal when she knows better than to vote me out. She knows Matty was right and she’s conflicted over it. But because Kenny told her to, she votes for me. Come on!
THE DEADBOLT: That's interesting, because Charlie mentioned it, as did Randy, but we’re not seeing any of this Sugar stuff that you guys are talking about.
CORINNE: It’s unfortunate. I believe that you will. I feel like they can’t - You have to see it at some point, they can’t hide it forever.
THE DEADBOLT: So what was your original strategy going in?
 CORINNE: Well, first off I wanted to be a powerhouse of a female, because I thought in the beginning you never vote off powerful females, you vote off weak. So I wanted to make sure I was really well trained for it. You know, there’s an understanding - you don’t bitch, you don’t whine, you don’t cry about it. You’re on Survivor and you knew what you were signing up for. And nobody wants to hear somebody whining about how hungry you are, we’re all hungry. I knew going in I wasn’t going to be that kind of person. I was going to have a good sense of humor the whole time and I was going to be someone who worked really hard at challenges and at camp, and I did.
My other theory going in was that I wanted to have an alliance with somebody that needed me and somebody that I needed. So originally I thought Marcus would be a good candidate for somebody I needed, and Bob would be a good candidate for someone who needed me, but I got really lucky. And you can’t predict it, it all depends on who plays the game with you. And I got Charlie, who’s amazing, and Randy, who’s the best surprise of all. But going in I knew it had to be a tight three, so in the beginning they kept calling us "The Onion". I never called it that, I called it "Ménage a Kota", because I knew that’s way cutier and we were very loyal. I mean, you would’ve been much more interested to see if it was us five in the end. Watching us go at it with each other would be a far more intelligent thing than whoever is left now.
THE DEADBOLT: Speaking of names, what do you think of "Nobag"?
CORINNE: [laughs] Oh, what do you think I think of Nobag? It’s stupid and thought of by Kenny, the smartest one. And at that point, really, am I going to argue over the name? I had to be like, ‘Oh, great. Great idea!’
THE DEADBOLT: If for some reason Sugar does end up in the final two what are you going to say to her?
CORINNE: I will say this: I have always been a big fan of telling people what I think to their face. It’s just not something you do on Survivor until you’re voted out. So if she’s in the final three, you can guarantee I will say whatever I want to.
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