It’s too bad that one of the only reasons fans knew Jacquie Berg this season on Survivor: Gabon is because they kept confusing her with fellow player, Kelly Czarnecki. The truth is that the similarities stop at their blonde hair. The two played very different games but unfortunately Jacquie was hit by a series of unfortunate events in this week’s episode. When the tribes were switched up, Jacquie landed on Fang, where she was outnumbered. She aligned herself with Ace and Sugar, currently two big threats in the game. Fang decided to let her take the fall for that alliance and voted her out. Today, she spoke to BuddyTV in an exclusive interview.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Can you tell me if you were a fan of Survivor before joining this season?
Yes, I love Survivor, the whole idea behind it, that it tests your physical and mental capacities – I think it’s awesome.
Did you do any kind of preparation before you left for Africa?
Tons and tons of stuff. I was training for a triathlon. I did bikram yoga to get used to the heat. I went to some meditation coaching to keep myself grounded out there when things got tough. And I learned how to filet a fish – I never touched raw meat before I went on the show so I got over the fear.
What is the toughest part about playing this game, do you think, at least for you?
Yeah, just being around people that you can’t trust. All day long. It messes with your mind so that was really hard. You couldn’t have any normal conversation, you couldn’t vent to anybody.
When the tribes were switched up on last night’s episode, what was going through your mind? What were you most worried about?
Oh my gosh, I don’t know if you could tell but I was praying that Fang didn’t choose me because obviously, they were going to have the majority former Fang members and on the other mat, the majority Kota. I had pretended to like, not to even hear Crystal. Like, “Please don’t pick me, please don’t pick me,” and sure enough, she did. I mean, that was my worst fear, being in the minority.
Who were you aligning yourself with in this game?
Originally, Charlie, Corinne, and Marcus but I also had an alliance with Sugar and Ace. Sugar actually told me that she had the immunity idol so I knew that if she had joined our team, we would have come out on top.
Did you know anything about the “onion alliance” until you watched the episode? Did you know that you were on the outside of the Charlie/Marcus alliance?
Oh yeah ‘cause me and Corinne were really tight and we knew they were really right. I confronted Marcus on it, as well. I was happy with that because it gave me flexibility in the final four, because I didn’t feel like I had to stay true to anybody.
It seemed like the Fang members were targeting Ace and Sugar so are you annoyed that you had to take the fall for them?
Yeah, completely! I was kind of probably looking way too far in the game. I knew that I needed Ace and Sugar both so I was like, “Well, if I go up now or if I go up next, I felt like I had to have them with me.” I mean, it just sucks. It was all luck, honestly. I just felt like I got gypped.
Do you think it’s smart for tribes to vote out strong physical players before the merge?
Oh no, it was horrible – horrible of Fang. Every single decision that they made sucked. I honestly could not believe… I mean, it was smart of them ‘cause I was gonna go with other people but they’re just digging their grave. They weren’t thinking strategically. They have one opinion there, which was Crystal, and she was influencing all their votes. As you can tell, she’s surrounding herself with weak people.
Who, do you think, is playing this game the best right now?
Um… let’s see… I mean, I’d have to say Sugar but she’s just been getting lucky being on Exile Island. I was thinking that I would’ve loved to have gone there.
And if you could’ve stayed in the game, is there anyone that you know you would’ve taken to final two in the end?
Probably Sugar and Marcus.
What’s life like been for you since you’ve been home and since Survivor started airing? What’s that been like for you?
It’s been awesome, I’ve been crazy busy. Out there, it’s really kind of boring at times, like there’s not much to do so when I got back, I’ve been working non-stop, trying to catch up on things. I had a lot of time to reflect out there so instead of getting into the rat race of corporate America, I started my own company. It’s actually a charity called Second Family, so I’ve been working non-stop on that.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
